Mix egg yolks and sugar well (until light-colored and fluffy). Add flour and mix well. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add hot cream, beating vigorously.
Cook over boiling water in double boiler, stirring constantly for the first five minutes and then watching it (do not walk away and leave it!) and stirring frequently until thickens. It needs to get very thick, so it will not ooze out of pastries when finished. (This may take about 30 to 40 minutes.) Be careful, as it burns easily. Do not allow to boil, or it will lose taste. Take off heat and beat thoroughly again. Let cool, stirring constantly, until it is room temperature. (It will thicken a bit more when it is chilled. But if it is too runny, do not try to cook it further, as it will taste bad.) Refrigerate.
Author's Comments
This is like a "Creme Patissiere" but because it is made with heavy cream, it doesn’t have the flour-y taste of the version made with milk. It can be used wherever a cream or custard is needed, but the best use is as a filling for puff pastry, which (once the cream has soaked in for a couple of days)is possibly the world's best pastry. The squares were called "French Cream Pastries" and were sold in bakeries and cafes in Lviw, Ukraine; my mother Joanna Werhanowska Panczak duplicated them at home. This amount will fill twelve 3" squares of puff pastry.
Instructions
Mix egg yolks and sugar well (until light-colored and fluffy). Add flour and mix well. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add hot cream, beating vigorously.
Cook over boiling water in double boiler, stirring constantly for the first five minutes and then watching it (do not walk away and leave it!) and stirring frequently until thickens. It needs to get very thick, so it will not ooze out of pastries when finished. (This may take about 30 to 40 minutes.) Be careful, as it burns easily. Do not allow to boil, or it will lose taste. Take off heat and beat thoroughly again. Let cool, stirring constantly, until it is room temperature. (It will thicken a bit more when it is chilled. But if it is too runny, do not try to cook it further, as it will taste bad.) Refrigerate.
Author's Comments
This is like a "Creme Patissiere" but because it is made with heavy cream, it doesn’t have the flour-y taste of the version made with milk. It can be used wherever a cream or custard is needed, but the best use is as a filling for puff pastry, which (once the cream has soaked in for a couple of days)is possibly the world's best pastry. The squares were called "French Cream Pastries" and were sold in bakeries and cafes in Lviw, Ukraine; my mother Joanna Werhanowska Panczak duplicated them at home. This amount will fill twelve 3" squares of puff pastry.
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