Simple Raspberry Pastry Cream
Say hello to a tangy twist on your usual pastry cream routine.
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Get ready to add a burst of berry flavor to your baking repertoire with our raspberry pastry cream, a versatile and delectable treat for any dessert enthusiast.
Recipe At a Glance
This raspberry pastry cream is incredibly simple to make. Start by preparing a Polish-style raspberry pudding with a bit less milk. Then, transform it into a luscious pastry cream by creaming the butter and gradually mixing in the pudding.
Both fresh and frozen raspberries work perfectly, making this a great recipe for any season.
This cream is fantastic for filling cream puffs and eclairs, but it’s also perfect for layering in cakes, topping pies, and much more.
If it’s your first time making this raspberry pastry cream, make sure to read the ingredients notes, step-by-step instructions, and tips. If you’re experienced, feel free to go straight to the recipe card.
Extra Learning
Before we jump in, here’s a handy resource to help you nail this recipe:
- How to Temper Eggs. My quick guide to tempering eggs—a handy technique you’ll use when making this pastry cream. If you’ve never heard of it or never tried it before, be sure to give this a read.
Ingredients Notes and Substitutes
- Milk. Whole fat works best.
- Starch. Use either 4 tablespoons of cornstarch or 2 tablespoons of potato starch for thickening.
- Sugar. Regular white sugar is fine, but feel free to use whatever sweetener you like.
- Raspberries. Use either fresh or frozen. If opting for raspberry puree, reduce the quantity by one-third and adjust to taste.
- Lemon juice. It’s optional, but it really helps bring out that raspberry flavor.
- Unsalted Butter.
- Egg yolks.
How to Make Raspberry Pastry Cream
- Pudding Prep. Reserve one-third of the milk. Pour the rest into a pot with sugar, egg yolks, and lemon juice, and stir well. Add the raspberries, mix again, and heat until near boiling, stirring often. Then simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the raspberries break down.
Add the ingredients to the pot- Heat and stir
- Simmer until raspberries soften
- Blend and Strain. Remove from heat, blend with an immersion blender, and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Rinse the pot to remove seeds and raspberry bits, then return the strained mixture to it and heat until almost boiling.
- Pour blended mixture into the sieve
- Strain out raspberry bits
- Prepare Starch Slurry. Mix the reserved milk with starch in a separate bowl until smooth.
- Cook the Pudding. As the milk mixture nears a boil, stir in the starch slurry. Continue stirring on low heat until it thickens. Then turn off the heat.
- Chill. Cover the pudding’s surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Let it cool to room temperature, about 60 to 90 minutes.
- Prep the Butter. Cube the butter and bring it to room temperature, so it’s ready when the pudding is.
- Make Pastry Cream. Whip the room-temperature butter, starting slow and increasing to high speed until aerated. Gradually mix in the cooled pudding, one tablespoon at a time, until well incorporated and creamy.
- Taste Test. Adjust the sweetness with powdered sugar if needed.
- Refrigerate. Chill the cream for at least an hour before using, allowing it to thicken and set.
Tips
- Starch Knowledge. Check out starch 101 to learn about thickening with starch.
- Faster Chilling. Spread the pudding on a large plate or in a bowl to cool quicker.
- Temperature Control. Ensure both pudding and butter are at room temperature to avoid melting the butter.
- Scrape Well. Use a silicone spatula to mix everything thoroughly when mixing the cream with the butter.
- Advance Preparation. The pastry cream holds its shape for 3 to 4 days, so it can be made ahead of time.
Other Recipes to Try
Looking for more? Check out the following recipes:
- Raspberry cream puffs. Delicious cream puffs filled with this pastry cream turned into creme mousseline. There’s a bit of work involved, but totally worth it.
- Pastry cream flavors. Want to test out other pastry creams? Here’s a list of 12+ flavors I already covered.
Storage
Once prepared, you can store this pastry cream in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Make sure the container is sealed tightly so that it doesn’t absorb any smells.
As mentioned earlier, the pastry cream keeps its shape well for the time you store it, so you can prepare it in advance if needed.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk ~240 ml
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch or 2 tablespoons potato starch
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter 3.5 oz or ~100 g
- 7 oz raspberries fresh or frozen (~200g)
- lemon juice
Instructions
- Pudding Prep. Reserve one-third of the milk. Pour the rest into a pot with sugar, egg yolks, and lemon juice, and stir well. Add the raspberries, mix again, and heat until near boiling, stirring often. Then simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the raspberries break down.1 cup milk, 2 egg yolks, 3 tablespoons sugar, lemon juice, 7 oz raspberries
- Blend and Strain. Remove from heat, blend with an immersion blender, and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Rinse the pot to remove seeds and raspberry bits, then return the strained mixture to it and heat until almost boiling.
- Prepare Starch Slurry. Mix the reserved milk with starch in a separate bowl until smooth.4 tablespoons cornstarch
- Cook the Pudding. As the milk mixture nears a boil, stir in the starch slurry. Continue stirring on low heat until it thickens. Then turn off the heat.
- Chill. Cover the pudding's surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Let it cool to room temperature, about 60 to 90 minutes.
- Prep the Butter. Cube the butter and bring it to room temperature, so it's ready when the pudding is.7 tbsp unsalted butter
- Make Pastry Cream. Whip the room-temperature butter, starting slow and increasing to high speed until aerated. Gradually mix in the cooled pudding, one tablespoon at a time, until well incorporated and creamy.
- Taste Test. Adjust the sweetness with powdered sugar if needed.
- Refrigerate. Chill the cream for at least an hour before using, allowing it to thicken and set.
Hi
I made this recipe-it was going really great but I am wondering if I did something wrong, the butter seemed to curdle a little. It’s not quite as smooth a texture as in your picture. Did that happen due to the pudding mix not being chilled enough?
The overall flavor is great. Thanks
Hey Lynsie, were both the butter and pudding mix at around the same temperature? And did you add the pudding slowly portion by portion? I only had curdling issues with this setup when the butter wasn’t properly whipped or when I tried to add a whole bunch of pudding at once instead of slowly bit by bit.
Did a half batch of this recipe last night as a test; it came out great! Ready to do a big batch tonight to fill some cream puffs. Some observations and challenges:
I had only bland raspberries; despite this the flavor still showed up great in the finished product.
I lost a lot of puree trying to strain the seeds out, so had to cut the amount of corn starch. I would start with half the starch and then add more by the teaspoon next time. My puree got too thick and was difficult to incorporate with the butter.
It helps to put the puree into the strainer then run the back of a big spoon along the inside, stirring and pushing the puree through the mesh. My strainer is too fine and this was taking a long time, so I just accepted some seeds.
There is no quantity listed for the lemon juice, so I went for 1 TBSP for a half batch and it seemed to work well.