Pastry cream (or creme patissiere) is an essential in many of the most delicious desserts. Namely: the gluten free eclairs I am posting this week. With that in mind, I wanted to share this easy recipe for lactose free pastry cream (with a dairy free option, too).
A quick note, before we begin: this recipe uses either regular butter or plant based butter. Butter has a negligible lactose content (0.1g per 227g of butter), but if you would prefer, use plant based butter. I recommend using one with 80g fat per 100g, as this mimics regular butter.
Before you type out a comment to tell me that butter is still not lactose free, consider this. There is actually no standard as to how much lactose is removed from lactose free milk before labelling it as such. Lactose free seems to be about reducing the lactose content to a tolerable amount, rather than a guarantee that there is absolutely no lactose.
Another quick note: a lactose intolerance is different to a dairy allergy. People with lactose intolerance can consume dairy with added lactase enzyme to reduce the lactose content. People with a dairy allergy cannot consume dairy at all, whether or not it is lactose free.
Lactose free pastry cream
This lactose free pastry cream is super simple to make. It uses full fat lactose free milk for the dairy component and caster sugar for the sweetener. Whole eggs and one egg yolk are whisked in for stability, flavour and thickening.
Gluten free cornstarch adds more thickening power and vanilla bean extract or paste adds flavour. Finally, we’re adding richness with some butter to finish.
This simple recipe is a delicious addition to any number of desserts. It is low FODMAP, gluten free, nut free and easily dairy free as well.
Ingredient notes
I like using lactose free full fat milk here. It lends a delicious creaminess and has that classic bland milky flavour. If lactose free milk is not available where you live, you can easily make your own.
There is no substitute for the eggs in this recipe. I do have a recipe for a vegan pastry cream in my cookbook, though.
For a corn allergy, my best recommendation is substituting potato starch. It worked quite well as a thickening starch in this recipe. I found that tapioca starch made a slightly slimy pastry cream, so I don’t necessarily recommend it.
Any sort of vanilla works here – extract, paste or even the seeds of a vanilla bean. You can also leave it out because heck, vanilla is expensive.
You can use salted or unsalted butter here. Personally I will always be a salted butter girl and I find everything benefits from a little bit of salt. Both work, though. You can also use plant based butter to make this completely lactose free.
Dairy free pastry cream
If you can’t have dairy, you can use this recipe to make a dairy free pastry cream. I recommend choosing a super neutral dairy free milk and butter brand to make the taste more subtle.
Something I would try is substituting half the milk with Flora plant cream and half with water. Flora plant cream has an extremely deceptive milky, creamy flavour that I think could work really well in a dairy free creme patissiere.
If not, I’d recommend something like macadamia milk for a neutral, creamy taste.
In terms of the butter, choose a good quality brand that you like. As mentioned above, I would recommend choosing a brand that has 80g+ fat per 100g, which is a similar ratio to regular butter.
To ensure the dairy free pastry cream thickens, you could consider adding 10g extra cornstarch.
On the flavour front, I like to amp up the vanilla flavour and add a pinch of salt to help disguise obvious plant based milk and butter flavours.
Recipe tips for your lactose free pastry cream
- Cook the pastry cream low and slow. I like to switch between a whisk and a silicon spatula to ensure there is no pastry cream overcooking on the bottom of the pan.
- If your pastry cream is a little lumpy, pass it through a sieve. This should make it silky smooth.
- Store the pastry cream with some clingfilm flush with the pastry cream itself. This will prevent it from forming a skin.
- Tempering the eggs can be annoying and feel a bit like overkill. Some recipes don’t do it. I like to do it as an insurance policy to avoid any overcooked egg.
- It is far easier to make pastry cream ahead of when you need it. Pastry cream needs time to chill completely and set. I generally make mine the night before I need to use it.
- If you are making something like eclairs, I like to stabilise the pastry cream with a small amount of agar agar. See the recipe in my gluten free eclair post (which makes a half batch, perfect for my eclair recipe).
More lactose free dessert recipes
- Lactose free chocolate mousse
- Gluten free cheesecake (lactose free option)
- Lactose free creme caramel
- Gluten free, lactose free tiramisu
- Gluten free vegan brownie cookies
Lactose free pastry cream (creme patissiere)
Ingredients
- 430ml (1 3/4 cups)* lactose free full fat milk (see notes for dairy free option)
- 75g caster sugar
- 3 extra large egg yolks
- 1 extra large egg (45-55g, weighed out of shell)
- 30 g gluten free cornstarch (see notes for corn free option)
- 50 g butter (salted, unsalted or good quality dairy free)
Instructions
- Heat milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan over a low-medium heat. Stir it regularly with a silicon spatula to make sure the bottom doesn't burn. Add about half the sugar.
- Meanwhile, whisk the remaining sugar and cornstarch together in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Once combined, whisk in the egg yolks and whole egg.
- Once the milk comes to a simmer, take it off the heat and transfer it to a large heatproof pouring jug.
- Place the bowl with the cornstarch egg mixture on a tea towel to stop it moving. Whisk constantly as you slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture. Tempering it this way brings the eggs up to a high heat without overcooking them.
- Once you have added all of your milk to the cornstarch egg mixture, pour it back into the saucepan. Turn the heat to low and cook the mixture while stirring very frequently with a silicone spatula to prevent any egg from overcooking.
- Cook for anywhere from 3-10 minutes or until the pastry creamy is visibly thickened and can easily coat the back of a spoon.
- Transfer the pastry cream to a heatproof bowl and cover it with clingfilm flush to the pastry cream. This will prevent it from developing a skin.
- Place the pastry cream in the fridge to fully cool and set – at least 2-3 hours but ideally overnight. It will thicken in this time, making it much easier to use.
- If your pastry cream has lumps and bumps, pass it through a sieve before use.
Notes
- Butter contains 0.1g lactose per 227g of butter. So, it is essentially a lactose free product (it arguably contains less lactose than store bought lactose free milk). If you are more comfortable, use a good quality plant based butter.
- For a dairy free pastry cream, use a good quality plant based butter and a neutral flavoured plant milk. See the notes in the body of the post for some pointers.
- If you need a dairy free pastry cream to be low FODMAP, see my Low FODMAP milks post.
- See the notes in the body of the post for ingredient swaps and tips.
- For a corn free pastry cream, substitute cornstarch with potato starch (not potato flour). Potato starch is white and squeaky, potato flour is pale yellow and flour-like in texture (or a bit thicker).
- I haven’t tested freezing this recipe as I generally make it for a specific purpose.
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