Pastry Cream

Put the milk and half of the sugar in a saucepan, give it a stir and bring to a boil at high heat.

While the saucepan is on the stove, stir half of the sugar and egg yolks in a heat proof mixing bowl with a whisk.

When combined, add the cornstarch and stir until there are no lumps in the mixture.

Once the milk comes to a boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and temper the eggs: pour almost ⅓ of the milk very slowly into the egg mixture, whisking constantly at the same time to prevent it from curdling.

Pour the tempered eggs into the milk mixture and whisk at the same time.

Whisk in the vanilla extract.

Place the saucepan over med-high heat, whisking constantly and let the mixture boil first and then let it boil for extra 2 minutes until it is thick and smooth.

Take the pan from the heat.

Pour the pastry cream into a large and shallow bowl to let it cool fast.

Immediately cover the pastry cream with a plastic film and lightly press so the plastic film can touch the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming on top.

First, let it cool at room temperature and then keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

When you remove the pastry cream from the fridge, you will notice that it is firm. Simply place it into a medium bowl, press it with a whisk first to a couple of times and then start to stir.

As you continue to whisk, it comes to its creamy consistency in seconds.