The lemon pastry cream is delicate and fragrant and represents a variation of the classic pastry cream. This cream is one of the most used basic fillings in pastry for stuffing many types of desserts and can be flavored in various ways: coffee, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, orange, lemon and more. The preparation is very simple — you only need to observe a few tricks to avoid lumps. The basic ingredients are egg yolks, milk, starch and sugar. All that’s left is to make it and enjoy it on its own, with fruit or spread on cookies!!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 7/8 cup milk
- 3 1/2 tbsp heavy cream (liquid)
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 lemon zest
- juice of half a lemon
Steps
In a small saucepan place the egg yolks and the sugar, stir well, then add the cornstarch — all while cold.
In another saucepan warm the milk, the cream and the lemon zest. When it is just about to boil, turn off the heat and pour it into the yolks, after straining out the lemon zest, then add the lemon juice.
Turn the heat to very low and begin stirring until the cream thickens; as soon as you see the first little bubbles, switch off. It will take about 10 minutes.
While still hot, place the cream in a blender and blend for 10 seconds — the cream will become smoother.
Then pour it into a container and cover it with plastic wrap, placing the wrap directly on the surface of the cream.
To quickly lower the temperature place the container in a bowl filled with ice; when it has cooled enough, transfer it to the refrigerator.
Before using the cream, blend it again for a few seconds — it will become fluid and glossy again.
The lemon pastry cream is ready!
Storage
The lemon cream can be stored for up to 2–3 days in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap.
Notes
If you use the cream to fill pastries that will be baked, replace the amount of cream with milk.
