my secret indulgence (sweet pastry cream)

A sunny, beautiful day again after a few very chilly mornings and finally, a freeze.  The household has been battling revolving strep for the last week or so;  today Anni, my daughter in law, has it for the second time, my daughter just succumbed, and Isadora is miserably sick.  The boys were sick last week with it - I hope lots of fresh air and keeping my bedroom door shut will keep me healthy and strep-free.

In between illnesses, they all went on a hike on Saturday, while I stayed home to cry over my computer and try to figure out how to fix the iPhoto problem - as in, finding a way to download my pictures from the camera into the second iPhoto page my daughter set up for me.  Total flop.  I went for a walk, came home, and whisked together my favorite sweet dessert - creme patissiere, straight.  No tart shell, no chocolate, no strawberries, just warm sweet pastry cream in my new little Weck pot, with my tiny spoon from Paris. 

Heavenly.

And this morning I figured out how to find the new pictures, wonder of wonders!  

creme patissiere (sweet pastry cream)


You will need a heavy-bottomed pot to make this, and a wooden spoon and a whisk.

1 cup milk
1 teaspoon good vanilla, or a scraped vanilla bean
1/4 cup sugar

3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Heat the milk in the saucepan on medium heat, adding the vanilla and the sugar and stirring constantly.  When sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from heat and set aside.

In a bowl or mixer bowl, place egg yolks and sugar and whip until the mixture is thick and a pale, pale yellow, then add the flour and whip a little longer.

Add half the hot milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisk or stir quickly, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan, whisking all the while, and set the pan back on the heat. The mixture will become thick very quickly - make sure you continue to whisk or stir.  When it's thickened, take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter and eat immediately:)

This recipe can be doubled with no problems.

a cool dessert - creme patissiere with berries

It is hot and very humid (97%) in New Hampshire today - and the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven for a fresh fruit tart. So, I thought, why bother? I made the classic creme patissiere pastry cream and simply layered it in glasses with strawberries and blueberries.

Fast, easy, and oh so delicious!

You will need a heavy bottomed saucepan for this.

To make:

1 cup milk

1 t. vanilla or a vanilla bean, scraped into the milk

1/4 cup sugar plus 1 T. sugar for the egg yolks

3 egg yolks

1 T. flour

1 T. unsalted butter

Heat the milk in a saucepan on medium, adding the vanilla and the 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk quickly, and make sure you do not let it boil! When sugar has melted in, remove from heat.

In a mixer bowl, place egg yolks and 1 T. sugar and whip until pale yellow and somewhat thicker, then add the flour and whip a little more.

Add half the hot milk mixture to the egg yolks, stirring quickly, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place back on heat, whisking as you heat it again. The mixture will quickly become thick, and at that point, take off the heat and whisk in the 1 T. butter until melted.

Spoon over fresh berries and serve .