Pastry Cream

Very basic preparation used worldwide.

First attempt ended up being lumpy. The lumps developed in one the lasts steps, although some lumps were observed after tempering the eggs. Official recipe was inconsistent with instructor's guidelines.

Hardware:

• Small/medium pot
• 2 Medium Bowls
• Piano Whisk
• Large bowl with ice

Official Recipe Steps:

1. Boil milk
2. Meanwhile, mix egg yolks, salt, sugar and cornstarch until smooth
3. Add milk to yolks mix (tempering) mixing continuously (at this point some separation was observed but further whisking improved the mix)
4. Return mix to heat, keep whisking for one minute after it simmers
5. Remove from heat and add butter and hydrated gelatine
6. Keep mixing until smooth (lumps were persistent)
7. Add flavouring
8. Reserve over ice
9. Optionally, strain to eliminate lumps

Instructor procedure:

1. Add half of the sugar to the pot where milk will be heated
2. Remaining sugar and starch are mixed dry in a bowl
3. Add 2/3 of the milk to the pot with sugar
4. Hydrate the gelatine in cold water
5. Add all the yolks at once *
6. Turn on the heat and start mixing the yolks and dry ingredients until absolutely smooth *
7. Adjust mix consistency with milk *
8. Immediately after milk boils, add to the eggs mix. Milk is poured continuously but slowly while whisking the egg mix
9. Stir briefly, and return to the pot
10. Return pot to M-H heat (75-80%). Keep whisking all the time*
11. Mix will start to thicken and then will boil
12. As soon as it starts simmering, pour mix into a clean bowl 
13. Add vanilla (optional)
14. Add RT, soft butter in small chunks all at once. Mix well. It should become shiny
15. Add hydrated gelatine. Squeeze out excess water. Keep mixing until smooth
16. Add flavour, mix well
17. Place bowl over ice until is cold enough for cold storage

Notes and Tips:

• Starch causes white lumps
• Eggs cause yellow lumps
• Butter should be soft and in small pieces
• Whole eggs can be used to achieve a different consistency.
• Eggs and dry ingredients should be mixed until very smooth BEFORE adding milk. This prevents lumps
• Egg-dry ingredients - cold milk mix consistency should be the same as hot milk + sugar
• After adding butter and gelatine, don't place over ice before mix is smooth
• Milk in pot never gets stirred before is added to the eggs mix. Sugar rest at the bottom of pot
• When stirring milk and eggs mix over heat, foam will appear. After a few seconds foam will disipate and mixture will start to boil. When foam drops, mix starts to thicken
• Never stop mixing milk and eggs
• Direction of process: Heat it, stir it, cook it, add gelatine, butter and flavour at the end
• When mixing milk and eggs over heat, a bouncy mix means too much starch. A mix that is too fluid means not enough starch.
• When mix starts to simmer, the starch can be considered cooked.
• After milk-eggs mix is removed from heat, vanilla can be added
• If mix becomes cold below butter melting point, use a bain marie and warm the bowl for a few seconds