Finally got my pastry cream to set right after 4 tries this week

I've been struggling with pastry cream for a while, always ending up with a runny mess that ruined my fruit tarts. This time I let it simmer a full 2 minutes longer on the stove and it came out thick and smooth. Anyone else have a simple fix like that completely change how a recipe works for them?

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2 Comments

gonzalez.vera3mo ago

Wait, you're telling me you struggled with pastry cream for FOUR tries and the fix was just two extra minutes? I have to admit I'm impressed you stuck with it that long. I would have thrown the whole bowl out the window after the second runny batch. But yeah, sometimes the tiniest tweak is all it takes. I had a similar thing with my grandma's pie crust recipe, just chilling the butter an extra 15 minutes turned it from a tough mess into something that actually flaked right.

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blake_cooper2mo ago

Did you try straining it through a sieve too? That always catches the lumps for me.

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