Crème Légère Recipe
A combination of silky pastry cream and whipped cream come together to produce this Crème Légère. Rich, light and creamy, this make a delicious filling.
Servings: 16 portions
Calories: 132kcal
Ingredients
- 480 ml whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks room temperature
- 70 g granulated sugar
- 40 g cornflour (corn starch)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean pod, cut in half with the seeds scraped out. or 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 45 g unsalted butter, chopped room temperature
- 240 ml double cream (heavy cream) cold
Instructions
- Heat the milk. Combine milk, vanilla bean pod and vanilla caviar into a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it begins to simmer and bubbles appear around the edge of the saucepan. Do not boil the milk. Set aside for ten minutes to infuse. Remove the vanilla bean pod.
- Whisk eggs and sugar. Whilst the milk is heating, place the yolks and sugar in a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk until thickened and pale. Add in cornflour and whisk until combined. It will form a thick paste.
- Temper the eggs. While whisking the yolks continuously, pour in the milk mixture in thin stream and whisk until combined. Pour the mixture straight back into the saucepan and return to low heat.
- Heat the custard. Whilst continuously whisking, heat the custard until it thickens. Once the custard starts to bubble, then heat for a further minute.
- Add in butter and cool pastry cream. Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a medium-sized bowl. This will remove any egg lumps. Add the butter to the custard and whisk until melted and combined.
- Chill the pastry cream. Set the bowl over a water bath (a larger bowl filled with cold water and ice). Whisk the pastry cream until it cools, then place plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cooled.
- Whip the cream and fold through pastry cream. In a medium-sized bowl, whip the cream until firm peaks form. Remove the pastry cream from the fridge and give it a whisk to loosen up. Add in a ¼ of the whipped cream to the pastry cream and whisk until combined and the pastry cream is of a looser consistency. Add the remaining whipped cream and fold through with a rubber spatula. Refrigerate until needed.
Notes
Step-by-Step Photos: My blog post includes helpful step-by-step photos to help guide you through making this recipe.
To store: Crème légère can be stored in an air-tight container with a piece of plastic wrap touching its surface in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
To freeze: I would not recommend freezing crème légère as it will lose its light texture once thawed.
Amount of cream used: For a lighter Crème légère, fold in more whipped cream. Alternatively, add in less whipped cream for a thicker crème légère.
TIP 1: Cook custard over low heat, whisking all the time to prevent it from catching.
Tip 2: Cover cream with plastic wrap to prevent skin forming.
TIP 3: Speed up cooling the pastry cream with a water bath.
Nutrition
Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 19mg | Potassium: 66mg | Fiber: 0.02g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 407IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 0.2mg