Servings: 18 Prep: 1 mins Cook: 15 mins Total: 16 mins
I LOVE pastry cream! This is the magical pudding like custard you’ll find inside a cream filled doughnut, éclair, cream puff, pastry tart, cream horn, or a nice full Boston Cream Pie! One of my absolute favorite desserts is one called Mille Feuille (pronounced something like “Me Fwee”, it means “thousand leaves”), which is alternating puff pastry and crème pâtissière, which is then frosted usually with some kind of fun berry or chocolate design. I tried to make this for years, always running into issues of consistency. It would be too thin, or it would turn “chunky” or it would simply be a custard. I had to reach outside of typical low-primal ingredients into something occasionally found in the Paleo landscape to achieve the desired consistency. The tapioca flour slightly boosts the carb counts, but … in return, I get pastry cream! Hello true Trifles!
Note: Makes roughly eighteen 1/4-cup (60 mL) servings.
Second Note: Resulting in a total of about 4 1/2 cups (1 L), I readily admit that this recipe is quite large. The primary reason for its size is the small amount of glucomannan, in relation to its strength. The glucomannan is a powerful thickener, but it takes on some bizarre qualities in too high a concentration. If I were to write this recipe as a much smaller recipe, then it would ask for 1/4 tsp of glucomannan, which really dramatically decreases the margin for error. My suggestion is to have a plan for lots of pastry cream for the first try. Be prepared to make a super huge trifle or 2 Boston Cream Pies, with hungry mouths nearby. Once you see how it works, then tweak the recipe the second time and cut it into thirds, resulting in only about 1 1/2 cups (360 mL), or about six 1/4-cup (60 mL) servings.
Third Note: The texture is thick, like an American style pudding, but it still somewhat “pools”. For a slightly thicker mixture, that holds up as a filling in something like a cake, add 1 to 2 more tbsp of tapioca flour.
Fourth Note: Another trick to create a lighter, thicker cream that can also be “piped” and hold its form is to fold in whipped cream. This will thicken and aerate the pastry cream.
Crème Pâtissière (Pastry Cream)
Print RateIngredients
- 1 1/2 cups cream heavy whipping
- 1 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 each vanilla bean split lengthwise (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- 3/4 cup 'Swerve' or other sugar replacement
- 3 tbsp tapioca flour
- 1 tsp glucomannan powder
- dash salt
- 9 large egg yolks
Instructions
- Combine cream and almond milk in a medium sauce pan. Split the vanilla beans, lengthwise, and scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean. Add the pod and seeds to the milk and cream. Bring the milk to a slow simmer.
- While the liquid heats, in a separate small mixing bowl, combine the sweetener, tapioca, glucomannan and salt. Mix them together and set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs well. Set aside.
- Strain the hot liquid, to remove the vanilla pods.
- Very very slowly, whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks. Whisk quickly, so as to incorporate the hot liquid evenly, without cooking or scrambling the eggs. This is called "tempering" the eggs. Once the liquid has been incorporated into the eggs, pour the milk-egg mixture back into the sauce pan and return to a low heat.
- Whisk the powder mixture into the hot liquid. Make sure it dissolves.
- Stir consistently until the sauce thickens. The temperature should be at above 165 F (74 C). Whatever you do, do not boil this mixture. The cream will thicken a bit more as it chills.
- Pour into a wide container, like a casserole pan, so that it's wide and shallow. Place in the refrigerator to cool. It is ready, when it is fully chilled, about 2 to 4 hours.
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
{1 1/2 cup (360g) unsweetened almond milk, divided} In the list of ingredients it says, almond milk, divided, but I don’t see in the instructions where to use 2 separate portions.
Hi! The recipe sounds delicious, but I have a problem finding glucomannan powder in my little german village. What could I use as substitute? I have something similar to xanthan gum…
Thanks!
Eva
Hi Unknown, that was a typo (a leftover from a previous recipe). I’m sorry. I’ve removed it. Thank you for pointing it out!
Hi Eva, xanthan gum should work in place of the glucomannan. Just use it in the same amounts and same method and it should all work out. I hope this helps!
Thank you!
Eva
This sounds yummy, and oh how I would love an eclair. Have you come up with a recipe for a low carb eclair? You are totally my inspiration for low carbing and one of my favorites on low carbing among friends. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
Wow! Thanks, Melinda! Hmmmm … an eclair, huh? That’s a tall order! I’ll really think about how I’d do it, though. I think a "true" eclair would be near impossible, but I might be able to come up with something that fills a similar space. Off to ponder! 😉
Do you think I could use arrowroot flower to thicken it with along with xanthem gum?
No tapioca flour.. I have coconut, almond, and low carb mixes (carbquik, "all purpose" blend from dixie diner) and gluc/xanthan. Any subs?
Hi Emma and Sherril, yes … Arrowroot should work (technically, so would cornstarch). It’s a starch thickener … and each of these 3 can be more or less used interchangeably. I went with Tapioca because I’ve got it, it can usually be found in larger amounts and … it’s typically considered acceptable by the paleo community (it’s not a grain). I hope this helps! 🙂
If I follow note 4 and fold in whipped cream, how much would I use? And do I add it after the pastry cream is fully chilled? Or just let it cool off, then add the whipped cream, then finish chilling?
Hi Janeen, it really depends on your goal. I don’t really know what you’re planning to do. That said, a 1 to 1 isn’t uncommon. I would at minimum get the pastry cream to room temperature or colder. I hope this helps!
This might be a silly question but do you think Psyllium Husk powder can be substituted for the glucomannan?
Hi Jodi, not a silly question at all! That said … it "might" work. It also gels, but … I honestly have no idea how much you would use. I also worry it might lend a funny color to it, but … my theory is … "maybe"? It might be worth playing with. At the very least, you’ll create something that probably tastes good, but may not have the best texture or color. Just treat it like a sauce, or … slather it on a muffin … so at least it won’t go to waste … then try again, with a slight variation. I hope this helps! 🙂
I was looking at the break down of ingredients listed for the Cream Patissiere, and noticed that you have both the salt and the swerve listed as having 180 grams of carbs.
I just wanted to let you know so you could review the numbers if needed. Thank you so much for your blog and recipes!!!
—Reply posted by Sharon Martinez on 1/28/2015
LoL! I completely understand, having done it myself many times! Glad I could help. 🙂
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/27/2015
WHOOPS! You are correct! Darn Copy and Paste! I’ll fix it when I next open my recipe file. Thank you for the heads up! Thankfully, this doesn’t impact the total net carb count, so … most people are getting the numbers they seek. Thanks, again!
Can the glucomannan powder or tapioca flour be subbed?
Thanks!
—Reply posted by DJ on 4/22/2015
Kinda/sorta, but not really … mostly. Yes, you can sub these things, but only with other things that are either just as strange, hard to find and/or exotic, or they’re going to be starchy. So, you could sub the glucomannan with something like xanthan or guar gum and you could sub the tapioca with something like arrowroot or cornstarch, but … in slightly different amounts. In each of these situations, you’re still using a wonky ingredient and a starch. So, if the question is … can I substitute these with less wonky or starchy ingredients … then … the answer is … not that I’m aware of. Outside of what is written, it’s possible, but it would take some fiddling with to find the right balance. Somehow I doubt this was the answer you were looking for, but I think it’s a simple limitation of the game we’ve chosen to play. I hope this sheds some light on your question!
“meeee fweee” – not even close. “Meal foy-eh” would be closer in fact