Monday, March 9, 2026
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Chocolate Pastry Cream – Sugar Spun Run


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This easy chocolate pastry cream is ideal for filling muffins or cream puffs. It’s made with lower than 10 substances and skips any difficult egg tempering steps!

Bowl of chocolate pastry cream thats been stirred into a thick swirl.

Chocolate Crème Pâtissière

Easy, wealthy, and indulgent, this chocolate pastry cream is a wonderful filling for muffins (ensure you use a dam!) or pastries. I prefer it in my cream puffs or eclairs for a chocolate twist, and I love it in my new chocolate choux au craquelin recipe (coming quickly!).

A lot of you will have requested for a chocolate model of my basic pastry cream, and for good motive (in any case, what can’t be improved by including slightly chocolate?). I had a be aware on how to do that in that recipe, however I believed a devoted put up may be extra useful. So right here it’s!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • No egg tempering! My recipe skips this fussy step many recipes take and nonetheless yields a wonderfully silky clean texture. I do that with my basic pastry cream, and so a lot of you will have had success with that recipe!
  • Wealthy chocolate taste from actual melted chocolate. This offers a deep chocolatey taste that cocoa powder alone couldn’t present.
  • So many makes use of; it’s the proper filling for choux pastry, muffins (like my chocolate cake), donuts, and cupcakes (like these Boston cream cupcakes). It might additionally work in my fruit tart. Or preserve issues easy and simply eat it with a spoon 😉
  • Consists of makes use of for the leftover egg whites, so that you don’t must waste them.

Elements

We’re utilizing only a few top quality substances right now for an unbelievable end result. I’ll overview a number of earlier than we dig in.

Overhead view of ingredients including chocolate, butter, eggs, cream, and more.
  • Chocolate bar. Use a top quality semisweet chocolate baking bar and ensure it’s chopped and able to go earlier than you even flip in your range. I discuss extra about the perfect chocolate to make use of within the FAQ part under.
  • Complete milk & heavy cream. Whipping cream or double cream may also work instead of heavy cream. Or, you may swap each the milk and cream for two cups of half and half.
  • Egg yolks. Simply the yolks! Don’t need to waste your egg whites? I embody a number of recipes for utilizing up your egg whites within the recipe notes under.
  • Cornstarch. This helps thicken our pastry cream–don’t skip it! Some recipes use flour as an alternative, however I discover that may trigger a gluey texture and floury taste.
  • Vanilla. Whereas that is chocolate pastry cream, a contact of vanilla is a mandatory ingredient. It enhances the chocolate superbly ✨ If in case you have some selfmade vanilla extract, use it right here!

Keep in mind, that is simply an outline of the substances I used and why. For the total recipe please scroll right down to the underside of the put up!

SAM’S TIP: Earlier than you start this recipe, collect and prep your whole substances and instruments and have all of them inside arms attain. You will want to whisk always whereas the cream cooks, and issues transfer quick as soon as it begins to thicken.

Tips on how to Make Chocolate Pastry Cream

Overhead view of a custard mixture being poured into a cornstarch and sugar mixture.
  1. Step 1: Mix moist and dry substances. Begin by whisking collectively the sugar, cornstarch and salt in your saucepan. Seize a liquid measuring cup and add the cream, egg yolks, and milk. Whisk these collectively til mixed, then slowly and steadily whisk them into the cornstarch combination. Be certain there are not any lumps within the combination.
Spoon that's been dipped in custard and swiped to show the custard has thickened properly.
  1. Step 2: Prepare dinner til thickened. Switch your saucepan to the stovetop. Whisk the cream always because it cooks over medium warmth. It should thicken after a bit; your whisk will begin to go away a path and it ought to coat the again of a spoon. As soon as it reaches this thickened pudding-like consistency, take away the pan from the warmth.
Overhead view of chocolate and butter being whisked into pastry cream.
  1. Step 3: Add the chocolate and butter. Pour the cream by means of a superb mesh strainer right into a heatproof bowl. Whisk within the chocolate and butter, then add the vanilla and whisk once more till the cream is clean and silky.
Overhead view of a bowl of chocolate pastry cream being whisked.
  1. Step 4: Cool & chill. Let the cream cool for about 20 minutes, whisking sometimes to forestall a pores and skin from forming. Press a bit of wax paper in opposition to the floor earlier than protecting and chilling for a number of hours.

SAM’S TIP: DO NOT crank up the warmth to prepare dinner your pastry cream quicker! It’s very necessary to warmth the combination slowly so the sugars have time to soften correctly–that is what creates the correct last texture. Heating too excessive or too quick will end in a pastry cream that’s runny, and it might even scramble the eggs.

Bowl of pastry cream made with chocolate.

Incessantly Requested Questions

Is pastry cream the identical as pudding?

They’re related, however pastry cream is richer from its egg, milk, and cream base. Pudding is thinner and made with largely simply starch, sugar, and milk. My chocolate pudding (additionally utilized in my grime pudding recipe) could be a terrific egg-free various to this chocolate pastry cream although!

What sort of chocolate is greatest for chocolate cream?

A semisweet or 60% chocolate baking bar gives you the perfect outcomes. The upper the standard of your chocolate, the higher the flavour and consistency of your pastry cream. Be certain to cut it finely and embody all of the little shards of chocolate!

Why is my pastry cream too thick/skinny?

In case your pastry cream is simply too thick, you most likely cooked it a bit too lengthy. You’ll be able to attempt thinning it out with a splash of cream to see if that helps skinny out the feel.

Then again, in case your pastry cream is simply too skinny, then you definately probably wanted to prepare dinner it a bit longer or on a decrease warmth.

Overhead view of a bowl of chocolate pastry cream surrounded by chocolate choux au craquelin.

Stay tuned for my recipe for chocolate choux au craquelin–coming soon! 💕

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜

  • Set yourself up for success by preparing all ingredients and materials before beginning – you want to have your fine mesh strainer and heatproof bowl ready before your pastry cream thickens, and your chocolate ready to go.

  • In a medium-sized saucepan, whisk together granulated sugar, cornstarch, and table salt.

    ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon table salt

  • Separately, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together milk, cream, and egg yolks until mixture is uniform (make sure the egg yolks are thoroughly mixed and no longer intact).

    1 cup (236 ml) whole milk, 1 cup (236 ml) heavy cream, 5 large egg yolks

  • Slowly, while whisking the ingredients in the saucepan, drizzle the cream/milk/egg mixture into the saucepan and whisk until evenly incorporated and no lumps remain.

  • Turn stovetop heat to medium and whisk constantly until mixture begins to thicken to a pudding-like consistency that coats the back of a spoon (your whisk should just be beginning to leave trails through the mixture).

  • Immediately remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer into a heatproof mixing bowl.

  • Add chopped chocolate and butter and stir until both are completely melted and well incorporated and mixture is silky smooth and uniform.

    4 oz (113 g) semisweet or 60% chocolate baking bar, 2 Tablespoons (29 g) salted or unsalted butter

  • Stir in vanilla extract.

    1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

  • Allow pastry cream to cool for about 15-20 minutes longer, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming on the surface.

  • Place a piece of wax paper or parchment paper directly against the surface of the pastry cream (to prevent a skin from forming), cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap, and transfer to refrigerator to chill for 2-4 hours (or up to 3 days) before using.

Egg whites

Here are a few recipes that use leftover egg whites, if you have no other plans for them:

 

Storing

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I do not recommend freezing.

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 341kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 167mg | Sodium: 122mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 744IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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