Today we prepare a delicious perfect vanilla custard, as good as in pastry shops, with only egg yolks and vanilla bean, for an explosion of flavor. In the past, I’ve given you a string of custard recipes, prepared in a simple and quick way, but especially with whole eggs, waste-free. Obviously, the original custard recipe is made only with yolks and a beautiful and good vanilla pod, and not with extract, which is very convenient if we’re in a hurry. When I started making my first cakes as a teenager, I prepared the cream exactly as in the recipe I’m about to give, then the desserts I made gradually increased, and I experimented with other recipes, indeed with fewer eggs, and whole eggs, and the result always satisfied me, but it’s also right to know the basics of pastry, and adjust, accordingly, which cream is more suitable for the occasion, this one is surely good for decoration, like on a cake, or on zeppole, as it starts soon, while for filled cakes, both are good, especially if mixed with whipped cream.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 500 g
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for custard
- 2 cups milk (whole or skimmed)
- 1/3 cup sugar (2 heaping tablespoons)
- 1/3 cup wheat starch (frumina)
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 bean vanilla
Tools to prepare custard
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Kitchen spatula
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Plastic wrap
Steps to prepare custard
Cut half a vanilla bean, if you want an even more intense flavor, you can use the whole bean.
On a cutting board with a sharp knife, open it lengthwise to open it, extract all the seeds with the blade of the knife, pulling from one end to the other.
In a saucepan, heat the milk with the vanilla bean, from which we have removed the seeds to set aside.
In a small bowl, put the sugar with the vanilla seeds.
When the milk comes to a boil, turn off the heat. Pour the milk into a bowl, and in the same rinsed saucepan, prepare the cream. I
use a thick non-stick saucepan, perfect for cream that does not stick.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks and use only the yolks for the cream, working them in the saucepan with the sugar, then add the starch and mix, adding a little milk to get a lump-free cream, then gradually add all the milk.
Bring to a boil while constantly stirring with the spatula, so as not to let the cream stick and burn, it will gradually thicken and come to a boil, at which point we turn off the heat.
Continue to stir the cream, and immediately put it in a bowl, cover immediately with cling film in contact. Let cool completely.
Once cold, mix well, more convenient with electric whisks, in a large bowl, ready to use the cream for all our recipes.
