Earl Grey Custard Cream (Pastry Cream)

This is the BEST custard cream you’ll ever have in your life. I promise you, this is NOT what you’re thinking (from the cover photo). It’s smooth, creamy, and has a STRONG earl grey flavour. Earl grey lovers: you’ll thank me. Use this as a filling for desserts such as mille-feuille, éclairs, cakes, donuts, you name it.

I’m a huge lover of earl grey tea and earl grey flavoured desserts. When I was making my custard cream, I was thinking, “this seems so boring, why not add a nice flavour to it?”, and that is how my earl grey custard cream came to be. It goes so well with my Strawberry Mille-Feuille, so be sure to check that out.

Ingredients

• 2 good quality earl grey tea bags
• 1 cup milk 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp cake flour
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, combine the earl grey tea bags, milk, and vanilla extract and bring to a light boil (small bubbles appearing around the sides). Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the yolks. Add in the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture changes to a pale yellow colour. Whisk in the flour until combined.
3. Squeeze out all the liquid from the earl grey tea bags into the milk. DON’T skip this step — that liquid absorbed by the tea bags have the MOST flavour.
4. Pour in the hot earl grey milk into the yolks mixture slowly, little by little, while whisking at the same time.
5. Sieve the mixture back into that same saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat while mixing with a silicone spatula continuously until it thickens. Custard should be shiny and not stick to the spatula.
6. Pour custard in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (make sure there’s no empty space between the custard and plastic wrap, or else the custard will become dry on the top). Place over a bowl of ice immediately for 30 minutes, then refrigerate. It can last up to 3 days.
7. When using it: whisk it until it’s smooth and creamy again. Enjoy!

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!