This vegan pastry cream or crème pâtissière is used in a multitude of classic french desserts. Traditionally made with eggs, milk, and butter, this vegan version is tasty, creamy, and silky smooth.
This post contains a lot of useful information, which will help you make a perfect pastry cream, but if you a pro and want to skip ahead to the recipe, it is right here:
What is crème pâtissière?
Crème pâtissière, also known as pastry cream, is one of the pillars of french pastry. It is a thick milk-based custard that is traditionally thickened with egg yolks or whole eggs and corn starch and flavored with vanilla. It is thick enough to be piped and often used as a filling or in pies and tarts.
Mastering the basics of french pastry
Crème pâtissière is a preparation that is often used as is a filling, or use as an ingredient in a more complicated recipe. This custard is used in multiple classic french desserts like:
- Entremets like fraisier or Saint-honoré
- Filling for cream puffs
- Crème Mousseline
- Crème Diplomate
Vegan Pastry cream is also great during breakfast or brunch as a topping for crèpes or waffles with strawberries. You could also serve a dollop of it with a piece of cake or pie.
Tips and tricks for an incredible vegan pastry cream
How to make a lump-free pastry cream?
Cornstarch is the thickening agent in this recipe, but it has the tendency of creating lumps if not well mixed.
Dry whisk together the sugar and cornstarch before adding any liquid so that there is less risk of lumps.
You will also need to whisk constantly once you add the cornstarch and don’t miss any corners. This is where the mixture could develop lumps or even worst, it could scorch, due to the high amount of sugar in the preparation.
You can use a flexible silicone spatula or "maryse" to get these hard to reach corners.
How to flavor crème pâtissière?
You can flavor crème pâtissière by replacing part of the liquids with another liquid like fruit purée, coffee or alcohol. You can also infuse the milk with spices like star anise or tonka bean. The ratio of flavoring ingredients will depend on the strength of the flavor you are aiming for.
Here are great pastry cream flavor ideas:
- Pistachio: pistachio paste + a bit of almond extract
- Coffee: adding espresso and Kahlua liquor
- Chocolate: adding melted chocolate to the hot milk or cacao powder to the dry ingredients
- Praliné paste
- Raspberry and rose water
- Orange blossom water is great with fresh fruits like in these mini fresh fruits tartelettes ( or mini-tarts)!
RELATED : Vegan Meringue Troubleshooting
How long can you keep vegan pastry cream in the fridge?
Pastry cream has a very short life span of 3 days. You can go up to 5 days if you want to push it. The trick with pastry cream is that you want it to cool it down quickly and keep it cool as much as you can. It is always better to make pastry cream fresh since you can not freeze pastry cream.
Do that by pouring the vegan pastry cream in a thin layer on a flat surface like a shallow dish and cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic is in constant contact with the surface of the cream. This will stop it from drying out and developing a skin. Place in the refrigerator until cold.
After it’s cooled down, it will be very thick and almost jelly-like. Loosen up the cream by whisking it until it becomes creamy again.
Try this pastry cream in my easy fresh fruit tartlets!
Tools you will need to make this recipe
- Whisk
- Flexible silicone spatula, also known as a maryse
- Small paring knife
- 1 medium bowl
- Saucepan
- A Shallow dish or baking tray
- Plastic wrap
Classic Vegan Vanilla Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 500g (2 cups) plant-based milk (oats, cashew, almond, rice) , I like to use unsweetened soy milk
- 1 vanilla pod
- 100g (½ cup) white sugar
- 60g (½ cup) cornstarch
- 1 pinch turmeric
- 60g (¼ cup) vegan margarine or butter
Instructions
- Line a medium to large shallow dish, or a baking tray with plastic wrap.
- With a paring knife, cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape off the seeds with the blunt side tip of the knife. Add the seeds and the pod into a saucepan
- Add the vegan milk to the saucepan, and simmer over low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes to infuse the vanilla. Discard the vanilla pod and bring to a boil.
- While the milk is infusing, in a medium bowl, dry whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and turmeric until completely smooth.
- Pour slowly a third of the boiling milk over the sugar mixture and whisk until smooth and lump free. Pour back the sugar mixture into the still-hot saucepan with the leftover milk.
- Cook the preparation for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat while continuing to whisk constantly. Check the sides and bottom of your pan with a silicone spatula from time to time to stop scorching from happening.
- When the pastry creme has started to thickened and large bubles starts appearing, remove the sauce pan from the heat while still stiring.
- While still hot, add the margarine and incorporate it with the spatula until homogenous.
- Transfer the cream onto the shallow dish and cover with plastic wrap so that it is in direct contact with the cream. Refrigerate until cold ( minimum of 1h)
- Use depending on your final product. Before using as a filling, put the pastry cream back in a bowl and whisk vigourously unil it becaumes creamy again and smooth.
Notes
- You can replace the vanilla pod with 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste or 1 ½ teaspoon of pure vanilla extract if needed.
- The turmeric is to give the pastry cream the classic yellowish look. It can be replaced with a drop of food coloring or be removed altogether since it is optional
Did you try this recipe?
Don’t be shy and let me know how it went! Leave me a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with #berrybakerblog!
Grace
Try tapioca flour, it's all natural and made from yucca root. Use it to thicken everything naturally. Good luck!
Rachel J
Made this with arrowroot and it turned out just fine. Substituted equal amount arrowroot for cornstarch ( corn flour). Changed the directions just a smidge.... whisked together the sugar and arrowroot in a pan, added cold oat milk, then on medium heat whisked until thick, added earth balance margarine, some vanilla and orange blossom water.
Really didn’t have high hopes, but was very pleasantly surprised at how well this thickened and tasted. Had to stop myself from eating more while it was warm!
Haven’t used it in the fruit tart for today, but it still looks thick in the bowl in the frig, so am optimistic.
Lynda Bowman
I need a recipe for pastry cream to put in my cupcakes, I think it should be something that does not require refridgerating it after it is in the cupcake. what do your think
Raspbelyse
Pastry cream always needs to stay refrigerated after it is made since it contains a lot of vegan milk. Pastry cream and custard are just, in general, a place where bacteria can grow quickly.
Martin
I did this recipe with light brown sugar and vanilla sugar (18g). I had to add about 3 tbsp of l.b sugar for my taste. When I got it out of the fridge I whisk it with a bit of soy cream and it came out perfect for an apple pie ! Will do this again.
Analia
Just made this for a birthday cake this morning! I'm not vegan but my family is and I was incredibly impressed how thick and tasty it turned out! Definitely going to use it again on future desserts . Thanks for sharing!
Julie Yen
This is a great recipe! I think mine thickened up really fast and is quite stiff when it's cold. Is this correct? I'm not even sure I ever made a creme pat but I know that I used to eat it:) Is it supposed to be super thick once it is ready to chill? Can't wait to use this again and flavor it.
Raspbelyse
Yes that is perfectly normal. It becomes quite firm, especially when cold and right before you use it, you need to mix it up with a whisk or silicone spatula and it will become creamy again 🙂
Prakirti Maheswari
What can I use if don’t have access to vegan butter or margarine?
Raspbelyse
Unfortunately, vegan butter or margarine is needed to give it a rich texture and buttery taste. You could maybe try a homemade vegan butter made with oils and some added artificial butter extract.
Maria
This recipe is so good!! I’m making it again this time for my husband’s birthday cake as a filling between the cake layers. Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes!!
Raspbelyse
Awesome! I’m happy you like it, and it’s my pleasure. ☺️
Dave
I don’t suppose you know how calories are in
500 ml , moreover great idea.
Raspbelyse
Unfortunately, I don't have the calories because that amount would change depending on the type of plant-based milk you would use. 🙂
Grace
Have you tried it with canned full fat coconut milk? That should be quite tasty with a bit of vanilla paste or Bean.
Raspbelyse
I have not tried it but it should work. You might need a bit of extra liquid while making it since full fat coconut milk is quite a bit thicker than other plant-based milks.
Ana
Hi there! How long can this be stored in the fridge? 😀
Raspbelyse
Hey Ana, you can keep this pastry cream stored in the fridge for 3 days and do not freeze.
Nancy Ross
I'm using white rice flour, as I'm allergic to corn as well as gluten. Based on my internet "research" it looks like a solid substitute, though it should be used 2:1, so 1cup of white rice flour in this recipe. If you don't have access to white rice flour, you can make some by simply using a clean coffee grinder or spice mill to grind up some white rice. I know it's way too late for your Thanksgiving, but hopefully this will help in future!
I will update this with results if I end up making it, which I'm pretty certain I will.
SARAH MESSENGER
This sounds amazing!! I wish I could try it out since the cornstarch can not be substituted I can't! Would have been perfect for Thanksgiving
Erinea
Maybe you could try potato starch or another thickening agent? Plenty of time to experiment before next Thanksgiving!
Yuri
Arrowroot powder??
Raspbelyse
I personally haven’t tried it with arrowroot powder so I don’t know how the final texture would be like
Nancy Ross
I'm using white rice flour, as I'm allergic to corn as well as gluten. Based on my internet "research" it looks like a solid substitute, though it should be used 2:1, so 1cup of white rice flour in this recipe. If you don't have access to white rice flour, you can make some by simply using a clean coffee grinder or spice mill to grind up some white rice. I know it's way too late for your Thanksgiving, but hopefully this will help in future!
I will update this with results if I end up making it, which I'm pretty certain I will.
Raspbelyse
Potato starch or tapioca starch would probably be closer to the texture obtained with cornstarch since white rice flour often leaves a grainy aftertaste. However, with those 2 starches, the texter of the pastry cream would be stretchier.
Shrutisaxena
Hi !! How do I make it pistachio flavored?how much pistachio paste can I add
Raspbelyse
You can add as much or as little pistachio paste as you wish. I usually use about 50g of pistachio paste or pistachio praline for one recipe of pastry cream, which is about just under 1/4 cup. I will then adjusted to taste since each pistachio paste differs in strength. For a really pistachio flavored cream, I can go up to 100g ( 1/2 cup) of pistachio paste so it's really up to how much of a pistachio addict you are ( I know I am!). Bakeries often add almond extract to pistachio flavored pastries to increase the flavor.
Old_MK
Sooo, is actual sugar important (like it is in cranberry sauce, jellies, etc) in this recipe, or might I be able to substitute a monkfruit & allulose sugar substitute? Vegan AND diabetic-friendlier...
Raspbelyse
The sugar type will impact the amount of sweetness, taste, and appearance/color of the product. I have not tried this specific recipe with monkfruit and allulose but it should work since in this recipe the sugar is to sweeten the cream and not to give it stability like in jam or jellies. If you do try it, let us know how it went!
Emily
Can the corn starch be substituted with potato or tapioca starch in this recipe?
Raspbelyse
No, it will give the cream a different texture or thickening power. Per example, tapioca starch would make the cream stretchy and slightly slimy. Better stick with cornstarch.
Brooke
This was pretty good, although I did modify a little: I used oat milk, and the recipe as written tasted pretty oaty. I added about an 1/8 teaspoon of salt and a splash of vanilla extract to the finished version, and that helped pull the vanilla bean flavor through. I spread it over an almond-flour/all-purpose flour crust and topped with fresh sliced figs. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Raspbelyse
Im happy you like it!