Craig Claibornes Pastry Cream Recipes

CRAIG CLAIBORNE'S CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Rub a baking sheet all over with butter and sprinkle with flour. Shake sheet back and forth until surface is coated with flour. Shake off excess.
• Put water in a saucepan and add 8 tablespoons butter, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil.
• Add 1 cup flour all at once, stirring vigorously around and around with a wooden spoon until a ball is formed and no mixture is left on the sides of the saucepan.
• Add one egg, beating vigorously and rapidly with the spoon until it is well blended with the mixture. Add another egg, beat until incorporated, and continue with remaining eggs until all are beaten in.
• Fit a pastry bag with a round-tipped No. 6 pastry tube. Spoon mixture into the bag. Holding the pastry bag straight up with tip close to the floured surface of the baking sheet, squeeze it to make mounds of pastry at 2-inch intervals all over pan. There should be about 36 mounds.
• The mounds may have pointed tips on top. To flatten these, wet a clean tea towel and squeeze it well. Open it up, fold it over in thirds. Hold it stretched directly over the mounds, quickly patting down just enough to rid the mounds of the pointed tips. Do not squash the mounds.
• Place pan in oven and bake 30 minutes, or until cream puffs are golden brown and cooked through. Remove and let cool.

QUICHE LORRAINE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Line a nine-inch pie plate with the pastry. By all means build a rim with the pastry and flute it. This is essential for the amount of custard indicated in this recipe.
• Cover the bottom of the pastry with a round of parchment paper and add enough dried beans or peas to partly fill the shell. Bake 10 minutes.
• Reduce the oven heat to 375 degrees. Remove and discard the beans and parchment paper and set the pastry-lined pie plate aside.
• Cook the bacon until crisp and remove it from skillet. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat remaining in the skillet. Cook the onion in the remaining fat until the onion is transparent.
• Crumble the bacon and sprinkle the bacon, onion and cheeses over the inside of the partly baked pastry.
• Combine the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce to taste. Strain the mixture over the onion-cheese mixture. Slide the pie onto a baking sheet.
• Bake the pie until a knife inserted one inch from the pastry edge comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove to a wire rack. Let stand five or 10 minutes before serving.

CRAIG CLAIBORNE'S PASTRY CREAM

Steps:

• Blend 1 cup of the milk and the cream in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• As mixture is heating, put egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until pale yellow. Add cornstarch to yolk mixture and beat well. Add remaining 1/2 cup milk and beat until blended.
• When milk and cream are at a boil, remove from heat. Add yolk mixture, beating rapidly with a wire whisk.
• Return to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with the whisk. When thickened and boiling, remove from heat and add Grand Marnier. Let cool, stirring occasionally.

DELUXE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the flour, sugar and lemon zest. Cut in the butter until mixture is crumbly. Add the egg yolk and vanilla. Mix.
• Pat a third of the dough over the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with sides removed. Bake about 6 minutes, or until golden. Cool.
• Butter the sides of the pan and attach to the bottom. Pat remaining dough around the sides to a height of 2 inches.
• Increase the oven heat to 475 degrees.
• Prepare the filling: Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla and lemon zest.
• In a separate bowl, combine sugar, flour and salt. Gradually blend into cheese mixture. Beat in eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, and the cream. Beat well.
• Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 200 degrees. Bake 1 hour longer, or until set. Turn off oven heat and allow cake to remain 30 minutes in the oven with the door ajar. Cool on a rack. Chill at least 3 hours before serving. Adorn with fruit if you'd like.

SOUR-CREAM PASTRY

Steps:

• Put 3 1/4 cups of the flour, salt to taste, baking powder, butter, eggs and sour cream into the container of a food processor. Process until thoroughly blended.
• If a food processor is not used, put the flour, salt to taste and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and cut it with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. Using a fork, add the eggs and thoroughly blend.
• Scrape the mixture out onto a lightly floured board and knead as briefly as possible, using as little flour as possible to make a smooth and workable dough.
• Shape the dough into a flat cake and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill until ready to use.

PASTRY CREAM

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour about 1/2 cup of the hot-milk mixture into the egg-yolk mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until it has been incorporated. Pour mixture back into saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes. Remove and discard vanilla bean.
• Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter, and beat on medium speed until the butter melts and the mixture cools, about 5 minutes.
• Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Just before using, beat on low speed until smooth (you can also whisk by hand).

PASTRY CREAM (CREME PATISSIERE)

Steps:

• Place the milk and split vanilla bean, if used, in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and keep hot.
• Put the sugar and egg yolks in a mixing bowl (this may be done in a mixer) and beat with a wire whisk until the mixture is golden yellow and forms a ribbon. Using the whisk, stir in the cornstarch.
• Strain the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture, beating constantly with the whisk. The vanilla bean may be rinsed off and stored in sugar.
• Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with the whisk. Cook for one minute, stirring vigorously. Remove from the heat. Add the vanilla extract, if used. Cover and let cool. Fold in the whipped cream and Grand Marnier.