Ingredients

2 cups (450ml) whole milk

¼ cup (1¼ oz)(35 gm) cornflour/cornstarch

1 cup less 1 tablespoon (200gm) (7 oz) caster sugar

4 large egg yolks (if you’re making the royal icing, reserve two egg whites)

2 large eggs

¼ cup (2 oz) (60gm) unsalted butter, cubed

2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla essence

Preparation

  1. Mix the cornflour/cornstarch with ½ cup of milk and stir until dissolved.
  2. Heat the remaining milk in a saucepan with the sugar, dissolving the sugar and bringing the milk to the boil. Remove from heat.
  3. Beat the whole eggs into the cornflour/milk mixture. Then beat in the egg yolks. Pour in 1/3 of the hot milk, stirring constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.
  4. Now, bring the remaining milk back to the boil, and add the eggy mixture, whisking as your pour. Keep whisking (don’t stop or it’ll solidify) on a medium heat until the mixture starts to thicken.
  5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and thoroughly whisk the pastry cream. At this stage the pastry cream can look slightly lumpy, but a good whisking soon makes it smoother. (N.B. If you’re worried about the pastry cream continuing to cook off the heat, you can transfer it to a stainless steel/ceramic bowl.)
  6. Beat in the butter and vanilla until fully incorporated.
  7. If you haven’t already, pour the pastry cream into a stainless steel or ceramic bowl, and then place clingfilm over the surface to stop a skin forming.
  8. Refrigerate overnight to give the pastry cream time to further thicken.