COCONUT PASTRY CREAM

Today, I'm preparing the Coconut Pastry Cream variation of Claire Saffitz's Pastry Cream recipe from Dessert Person. I'm using this as a layer in my Coconut Cake, which is also a recipe from Dessert Person. I'll be sharing that post soon!

My Nina's favorite cake is coconut cake so I absolutely needed to try and bring her the best of the best recipes, which means layers and lots of thoughtful steps. The first step being, pastry cream. I decided to make the pastry cream two days prior to assembling, so 3 days prior to serving. Its completely set in the fridge and ready to go. I highly recommend planning ahead for any recipe you plan on using so its not an overwhelming sea of ingredients on your kitchen counter.

Let's get into the recipe!

INGREDIENTS

1 can Unsweetened Full-Fat Coconut Milk

1 cup Whole Milk

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste

½ tsp. Kosher Salt

½ cup Granulated Sugar

¼ cup Cornstarch

5 large Egg Yolks

4 tbs. Virgin Coconut Oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pour the can of unsweetened full-fat coconut milk, well shaken, into a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until reduced to 1 cup, 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Place a fine-mesh sieve over the top of a large heatproof bowl and set aside.

3. To the reduced coconut milk, add the whole milk, vanilla, and salt.

4. Set the saucepan over medium-low heat and let the mixture come slowly to a simmer, whisking occasionally, to allow the vanilla to infuse the milk.

5. While the milk is heating, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and yolks in a large bowl.

6. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is very pale, light in texture, and thick, about 2 minutes (it will seem too thick to whisk at first but will thin out as you work it).

7. Using a ladle and whisking constantly, slowly stream about half of the hot milk into the bowl with the egg mixture (this gradually raises the temperature of the eggs so they don't curdle).

8. Whisking constantly, quickly stream the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining warm milk.

9. Increase the heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the foam has subsided and the pastry cream is thick like pudding and easily holds the marks of the whisk, about 3 minutes (but possibly several minutes longer depending on the strength of your stove and the sturdiness of your saucepan). It's important that the mixture comes to a boil in order to activate the cornstarch, but at the same time you don't want to overcook the pastry cream-when you pause whisking for about 5 seconds, a few thick bubbles should form beneath the surface and then pop. If this isn't happening or the cream isn't thickening, raise the heat slightly and keep whisking, pausing every 30 seconds to check if it's bubbling.

10. Scrape the cooked pastry cream into the mesh sieve and use the whisk to press the mixture through the mesh into the bowl below (discard any solids).

11. Whisk the 4 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil into the hot pastry cream one piece at a time until smooth.

12. Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate until it's cold, at least 4 hours.

    
    

    You can make this recipe up to 5 days in advance.

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Pour the can of unsweetened full-fat coconut milk, well shaken, into a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until reduced to 1 cup, 15 to 20 minutes.

Place a fine-mesh sieve over the top of a large heatproof bowl and set aside.

To the reduced coconut milk, add the whole milk, vanilla, and salt.

Set the saucepan over medium-low heat and let the mixture come slowly to a simmer, whisking occasionally, to allow the vanilla to infuse the milk.

While the milk is heating, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and yolks in a large bowl.

Whisk vigorously until the mixture is very pale, light in texture, and thick, about 2 minutes (it will seem too thick to whisk at first but will thin out as you work it).

Using a ladle and whisking constantly, slowly stream about half of the hot milk into the bowl with the egg mixture (this gradually raises the temperature of the eggs so they don't curdle).

Whisking constantly, quickly stream the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining warm milk.

Increase the heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the foam has subsided and the pastry cream is thick like pudding and easily holds the marks of the whisk, about 3 minutes (but possibly several minutes longer depending on the strength of your stove and the sturdiness of your saucepan).

It's important that the mixture comes to a boil in order to activate the cornstarch, but at the same time you don't want to overcook the pastry cream-when you pause whisking for about 5 seconds, a few thick bubbles should form beneath the surface and then pop.

If this isn't happening or the cream isn't thickening, raise the heat slightly and keep whisking, pausing every 30 seconds to check if it's bubbling.

Scrape the cooked pastry cream into the mesh sieve and use the whisk to press the mixture through the mesh into the bowl below (discard any solids).

Whisk the 4 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil into the hot pastry cream one piece at a time until smooth.

Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate until it's cold, at least 4 hours.

If you plan on saving this recipe for later via Pinterest, feel free to use this image!

Please tag me if you end up making this recipe, I would LOVE to see how it turns out!!