I’ve been watching a lot of cooking shows recently that have inspired me to try new things. The recipe for crème patissiere is called basic cream filling in The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Though it’s most commonly used in pies, pastries, and cream puffs, I wanted to use this custard as a layer in a chocolate cake.

Mix together ½ cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of flour, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Set aside.

Heat 1 cup of milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until it’s almost ready to boil. Remove from heat.

Stir the milk into the dry ingredients until well-blended.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Using low heat, whisk constantly for 4 – 5 minutes when the custard turns smooth and thick.

Stir in 2 slightly beaten egg yolks and cook a couple more minutes.

Remove from heat. Let it cool, stirring occasionally, and then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Delicious! Smooth and creamy and thick. As I said, I used it as filling for a chocolate cake. It’s a good flavor but a thicker consistency than a layer of mousse. My husband loved it!

I will definitely make this again—the next time in as a layer in a pie.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Source

Revised by Cunningham, Marion and Laber, Jeri. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Alfred A Knopf Inc., 1983.