Custard, fla, vanilla pudding, vanilla creme pat, vanilla creme patissiere – I heard it named in so many ways but, in the end, is the same thing: a cream based on milk, sugar and eggs and flavored with vanilla.
The name differs due to the cream consistency and country 🙂 And off course you can change the flavor by adding chocolate, cinnamon, star anise, caramel, you-name-it!
When you can pour it like a sauce you call it custard (in english), fla (in dutch) or creme anglaise (in french) and you serve it cold or hot. When it is thick you call it creme patissiere or creme pat or pudding.
The vanilla cream can be used in cakes as a filling or eaten on it’s own, maybe with some jam. If you add some whipped cream into it is going to be more fluffy if you are not a fan of dense creams.
Off course, if you are a chocolate addict you can add chocolate when it’s still hot and mix it and you get yourself the choco dose :))
As creme anglaise you can have it hot with some english cakes like Sticky toffee pudding, Dorset apple cake or bread and butter pudding. My favorite of all times is to have it cold with the french classic – Oeufs a la neige.
When thick, creme patissiere it goes well as a fruit tart filling, as a topping for chocolate cakes or, like I was saying, on it’s own with berries.
Today I decided to make the thick one – creme pat. If you want a richer taste add half cream and half milk instead of just milk. And you can have the “deluxe version” if you only use egg yolks instead of full eggs (instead of 100g egg yolk and 4 full egg – use 300 egg yolks)
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Scale all the ingredients. Mix in a bowl 100 ml of milk, cornstarch, sugar, add the egg yolks and eggs. Put the rest of the milk to boil with the vanilla bean - if used.
-
Whip the egg mix until homogenous.
-
When the milk is simmering pour it over the egg mix. Do not stop mixing or your eggs might scramble from the hot milk.
-
Return the mix in the initial pan and cook it over low heat mixing constantly until is done. You know it's done when 1. it doesn't have a floury taste and 2. when you coat the back of a spoon and you let it cool down (one-two minutes in the freezer) and it peals out from the spoon without leaving any traces on it.
-
When done add the butter and the vanilla essence and mix until homogenous. Cover it with cling film on the surface of the cream, not on the bowl, to prevent it from forming a skin. Let it cool to room temperature and after in the fridge. Before serving it, for a nicer texture, you should whip it for a few seconds. The same if you want to pipe it in or on a cake.
