Pastry creams are a type of preparation with an unctuous consistency and are often used in pastry-making. A classic pastry cream (or crème patissière) is made using flavoured, sweetened milk thickened with egg yolk and starch (usually corn starch). It is heated to at least 175°F (80°C) so that the starch and yolk coagulate. It’s used as a filling or covering in pastry-making, as a dessert in its own right or as a sauce for desserts. Its thickness varies depending onwhat you are using it for.
It also works as a base for other types of creams such as, for example, mousselines (if you add butter), diplomat cream (if you add whipped cream) and chiboust (if you add meringue).
From plant-based to vegan pastry cream
We can make a vegan pastry cream and achieve a result very similar to that of traditional pastry cream. However, to do so, we will have to use specific products and know the proportions we are going to use. Below, we explain it in detail so that all vegan pastry lovers can apply this knowledge on their own.
What are the limitations of vegan pastry making? Basically two: eggs and milk.
Milk is the least of the problems, it would be enough to replace it with any other vegetable drink, such as soya or rice. You are free to choose your favourite option. The challenge lies in the substitution of the egg yolk, as we will need to provide the necessary technical characteristics so that the cream has the same texture as the original.
It’s important to point out that there are now technical starches that help us to thicken cold or hot creams and improve their texture and stability when they are frozen, for example. They can then improve cold creams’ flavour in particular because, thanks to them, the fruit doesn’t have to be heated and loses none of its fresh taste.
To explain the function of the egg yolk in a pastry cream, we take as a reference the basic pastry cream, indicating the products needed to replace it.
Substitutes for making vegan pastry creams
Natur Emul:
This can be a replacement for egg yolks’ emulsifying properties, which they owe to their lecithin. This is particularly important when we want to emulsify creams properly. We can also use soy or sunflower lecithin instead.
Deodorized coconut fat:
Egg yolk is about 30% fat. This fat content is an important way of adding an unctuous texture to your cream, but it also helps with emulsification and provides a vehicle for flavours. There are different fats we can use, one of which is deodorized coconut fat. Shea butter is another good option.
Gelcrem hot / Gelcrem cold:
Gelcrems help us to thicken cold or hot creams and have an important role to play in improving their texture and stability when they are frozen, for example. The flavour of some creams – fruit, for example – is improved when they are made cold, because we let them retain their fresh flavour when we don’t cook them.
Basic preparations of pastry creams
Chocolate Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 700 g Rice drink
- 130 g Sugar
- 65 g Gelcrem Hot Sosa Ingredients
- 1 g Salt
- 7 g Natur Emul Sosa Ingredients
- 100 g 70% dark chocolate
Instructions
- Whisk together the dry ingredients and rice drink and cook the mixture in a pan until it comes to the boil, stirring all the while. Add the couverture. Mix vigorously until the texture is smooth and homogenous. Leave it to cool to 40°F (4°C) and store it in the refrigerator.
We can use Natur Emul as a substitute for egg yolk’s emulsifying properties. We use Gelcrem
Hot to thicken this cream with a very intensely chocolatey flavour and creamy texture.
Coconut Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 380 g Rice drink
- 430 g Coconut purée
- 105 g Sugar
- 68 g Gelcrem Hot Sosa Ingredients
- 6 g Natur Emul Sosa Ingredients
- 35 g Deodorized coconut fat Sosa Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix together the rice drink and coconut purée.
- Separately, mix the Gelcrem Hot, sugar and Natur Emul. Whisk the two mixtures together and cook until they come to the boil, stirring all the while.
- Take it off the heat and add the coconut fat.
- Whisk until you have a smooth, homogenous cream.
In this instance, it’s also important to find a substitute for the egg yolk so the coconut loses
none of its flavour. In addition to Natur Emul and Gelcrem Hot, we add coconut fat to enhance
the creamy mouthfeel.
Raspberry Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 350 g Rice drink
- 425 g Raspberry purée
- 115 g Sugar
- 75 g Gelcrem Hot Sosa Ingredients
- 7 g Natur Emul Sosa Ingredients
- 50 g Deodorized coconut fat Sosa Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix the plant-based drink and raspberry purée.
- Separately, mix together the Gelcrem Hot and sugar. Whisk the two mixtures together and cook until they come to the boil, stirring all the while.
- Take the mixture off the heat and add the coconut fat and Natur Emul.
- Mix until the cream is smooth and homogenous.
This product is made with raspberry purée and rice drink, and it incorporates fruit without losing any of the flavour and texture of a pastry cream. We use Natur Emul as an emulsifier and thicken the cream with Gelcrem Hot. We can make cold creams with 100% fruit purée using Gelcrem Cold.
Pistachio Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 700 g Rice drink
- 120 g Sugar
- 60 g Gelcrem Hot Sosa Ingredients
- 1,5 g Salt
- 7 g Natur Emul Sosa Ingredients
- 100 g Pistachio paste Sosa Ingredients
- 40 g Deodorized coconut fat Sosa Ingredients
- 15 g Sunflower oil
Instructions
- Mix together the sugar, salt and Gelcrem.
- Separately, mix the pistachio paste, sunflower oil, coconut fat and Natur Emul.
- Mix the dry ingredients with the plant-based drink and cook until it comes to the boil, whisking all the while.
- Take it off the heat and add the fat-based ingredients mixed with the Natur Emul.
- Mix thoroughly until the cream is smooth and homogenous.
This cream has an intense pistachio flavour thanks to the pistachio paste it contains. We can use Natur Emul instead of egg yolk and thicken it with Gelcrem Hot. We can also include Coconut fat combined with other oils to make the texture lighter.
Vegan pastry cream is a classic that needs to be mastered to perfection. Here we have looked at the essential substitutes to make it without complications, as well as some ideas for proportions and recipes that can be made with Sosa ingredients as allies.