Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream

First time making pastry cream and it was delicious! I chose this recipe because the instructions were clearest and easiest to follow. If you don't have all the ingredients on hand, substitutions are fine since that's the situation I found myself in. I don't carry kosher salt at home and only table salt; used 1/4 tsp and it came out fine. I also only had 2% milk and not whole milk but followed the same measurement of 2 cups; came out fine. Don't have vanilla beans at home so I added 1 tsp vanilla extract into the milk on the stove; came out fine, too. This recipe is a keeper!

I don't know what I did wrong. Are you sure the recipe needs one whole teaspoon of kosher salt? I followed the recipe EXACTLY with fresh ingredients and it seems too salty.

IN REGARDS TO SALT AND BUTTER: This recipe uses *COARSE* salt and *UNSALTED* butter, meaning you should use 1/4 TSP REGULAR TABLE/FINE SALT if you don't have coarse salt and make sure to NOT use salted butter. If you only have salted butter, then use even less salt!! Very delicious! I was extremely skeptical of this initially. When I tasted it on its own I thought it tasted too much like vanilla pudding. It wasn't until after I finally chilled it for a few hours and piped it into some choux pastry puffs that I found it very good! I didn't have actual vanilla beans and used 2 TSP pure extract and it still came out ok. I think that next time I will definitely use either beans or paste. This is a recipe where you will really taste the vanilla you add to it so a better quality one is necessary. I also did not follow the note to add whipped cream to the pastry cream when piping into cream puffs. It was fine in my cream puffs without the whipping because I didn't cut the puffs open (just piped the cream straight in). If you want the pastry cream to be visible/outside you might want that whipped cream for structure. Otherwise it jiggles around like pudding!

Chef John is the best. Let's just get that right out of the way. But unfortunately 1 tsp kosher salt in this recipe completely destroys the pastry cream. 1/2 tsp at the very most, perhaps even less.

This recipe really is easier than others. To anyone who is not a big fan of stirring for what seems like an eternity over a hot stove, this recipe is for you. It comes together literally in just a few minutes. I plan to make this again and again. Thanks.

I followed exactly but I, too, felt it's too salty. I will no doubt make it again but reduce the salt.

I followed the recipe exactly. The 1 teaspoon of kosher salt was way too much. Half a teaspoon would have been plenty. If I make it again I will also add a few drops of vanilla for a bit more flavor.

Way too much salt. Next time I'll try 1/4 tsp.

I only did a pinch of salt BUT this turned out really well. I ended up whisking step 1 much longer than it states. It was easy enough to make too, just show no fear like Chef John says!

Super delicious!

Will cut salt back by one half next time. Other than too much salt, very good, smooth. Very easy to make.

Is there an error in the salt? Please revise this recipe down from 1 teaspoon! I used a scant teaspoon of coarse Kosher salt, and was so disappointed that I had not read reviews. Even the 5 star reviews recommended halving the salt, and quartering if you use table salt. I was going to give still 4 stars for texture and body, but then decided that cooks need to be forewarned before they serve guests a mountain of saltiness. Otherwise a 5 star recipe.

This is a good recipe for pastry cream albeit with the caveat that if written with instructions to use unsalted butter ( which I knew was appropriate) and 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon free running salt, I would have given it 5 stars. I've made many, many gallons of pastry cream in my career and think that this must have just been a lapse in writing the recipe. Chef John's recipes are delicious and I use many of them.

Very tasty and easy to make. I followed the video, which made it very easy. I'm using this as a cream puff filling.

Creamiest and richest tasting pastry cream I have ever tried so far. I didn't use regular sugar, instead I used coconut sugar and it gave almost like a carmel taste into the pastry cream. Also, I used a pinch of regular salt for I found a teaspoon of Kosher salt to be way too much in any kind of pastry for such small serving. One thing that did bothered me was the fact that the butter separated in the mix after cooking. Is there an explanation to why it caused that reaction? But overall, this is an amazing recipe and keeper for books. Therefore, it deserves five starts.

This looks totally delicious, and it is too! Yum!!

This was GREAT! It turned out with a very good taste!

this was my first attempt at making pastry cream, but the video and recipe were really easy and helpful! since I used salted butter, I omitted the extra salt entirely and got a perfect result. this is now my go-to pastry cream recipe! thank you for making an intimidating dessert really easy and absolutely delicious!

This recipe is easy to follow. I sub 2% percent milk and Vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean. LOVE IT

Used half the salt based on other reviews and this is still much too salty. (And I love salt.). I think the issue is with the amount of cornstarch. It is way off. I don’t think this pastry cream is salvageable. Maybe I will make some pie crust and see if perhaps I can offset the saltiness off

My first time making pastry cream and it turned out perfectly! Now on to my cream puff/eclair shells!

great recipe best cream ever fastest to

thanks chef john!

Absolutely amazing dish. I agree 100% with Chef one of my favorite dishes now!!!

OMG, this was amazing! I just now took a bite after it cooled just a bit, and my taste buds went wild. I am very excited to add it to my repertoire! Also, I love the videos... :)

Like most of Chef John's recipes, works like a charm and tastes great. Used as a filling for cream puffs.

It’s the recipe I’ve been looking for; it’s Great! Thanks.

I used the recipe as inspiration since I didn't have whole milk, unsalted butter, or a vanilla bean. My version was ok in the cream puffs I made but would've been so much better if I had used whole milk and higher quality extract or a vanilla bean. So my advice is to stick to the recipe as written, go figure.

This stuff is so good! I make it as written, EXCEPT I do use salted butter and then skip adding the additional kosher salt entirely. You do not need the added salt at all. I serve it any number of ways, but it's also really delicious as a small serving topped with some fresh raspberries!

I have made this many times and will be making it many more times. The first time I did everything as written except to veganize where necessary. One time I used it for banana pudding and vanilla wafers so of course added bananas and vanilla wafers. This is the best pudding (I know it's not pudding, it's pastry cream) I have ever had in my life.... If you want to veganize this it's pretty easy. Instead of eggs add 5 tablespoons of water and just enough turmeric to get the coloring right. (Do not add more cornstarch, there's plenty to hold everything together.) Sub out the milk and butter for any non-dairy, we use almond milk and earth balance baking sticks. Once I was out of vanilla beans and instead used one teaspoon of vanilla in the milk and one teaspoon of vanilla in the cornstarch mix. Still amazing.

came out awesome.

I didn’t make any changes. It is very good for the Mille Feuille I made. The video was very helpful.

It’s me again. I’ve not made it but I want to but I no longer use refined sugar and instead use Blue Agave. How will this affect my cooking, my baking? I do so much pastry. It hadn’t occurred to me until I just read the recipe. Perhaps there’s something I can read? If you know of anything please pass it along. Many thanks, Samantha

I have made this twice, once a full batch and another a half batch, both turned out perfect. you just cant mess this up following the instructions.

Wonderful.

This is my go-to pastry cream. Make it for millefeuilles and then my wife and I just eat what's left. Make sure to use just a bit of kosher salt!

Much easier than i thought it would be! Didn't have vanilla beans so we used 1 1/2 Tablespoons instead

I’ve made it but i don’t use salt at all, and it taste delicious thanks so much