The pastry cream is such a versatile confection, in that, it can be used is such a variety of desserts – including my favourite – the chocolate éclair!
I tasted the pastry cream in a curious, curious way – as a filling in a Cronut – or more precisely, the ‘Mayakoba Cronut‘.
Mayakoba is a little piece of Mexican heaven encompassing three luxury resorts, an 18-hole golf course, a ‘cenote’- which is a natural sinkhole that feeds an ancient underground river system that the ancient Mayan Culture was built upon, and sits by a gorgeous, gorgeous sapphire beach. I had the fortune of staying a the Rosewood Mayakoba last year, and that is where I tasted the Mayakoba Cronut. More on that later.
Today, a little over a year since I bit into my first ever Cronut, (my mouth just flooded with saliva thinking about it) I decided to commemorate that trip by making my own Cronuts at home.
And to start it off, we need the heart of the Mayakoba Cronut – an orange cream – I went with a slight variant of the pastry cream.
The citrus tang of the mandarin orange cuts into the sinful creaminess of the pastry cream making it just perfect to indulge in endlessly.
And you are done!
Delicious orange pastry cream done and ready to be piped into your Cronuts. Or into an éclair. Or into a cream puff. Or into a Boston Cream pie. Or made into a creme brulée. The possibilities!!!
Mandarin Orange Pastry Cream
- Prep Time:10m
- Cook Time:20m
- Total Time:30m
- Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 c granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp. cornflour
- 2 mandarin oranges (zest of 2 oranges, juice from one) - if using regular oranges, one will do.
- 3/4 c whole milk
- a pinch of orange food color (optional) - if using, add while boiling the milk+zest mixture.
Instructions
- Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until it turns pale yellow.
- Combine the milk and orange zest and bring to a boil until a skin forms.
- Remove from heat, and add a little egg mixture at a time, whisking well until fully incorporated.
- Return mixture to heat, and keep whisking over medium heat until it thickens.
- Stir in the orange juice.
- Sieve the cream to remove any lumps and zest.
- Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the surface of the cream. This will prevent a skin from forming as it chills.
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