Crème Pâtissière- Vanilla Pastry Cream

Crème pâtissière or vanilla pastry cream is a cooked egg custard thickened with cornstarch in addition to egg. It can be used in a variety of recipes or eaten as is. If you ever watch The Great British Bake Off, they call this creme pat!

This pastry cream is an essential ingredient if you want to make the classic French treat, pain aux raisins. It is spread on the flattened dough which is then rolled up with raisins, sliced into spirals and baked till golden. I’ll be sharing my cheater version using store-bought puff pastry tomorrow.

It is also lovely used to top a pavlova before adding fruit to serve and is the typical filling for profiteroles. Or truly, you can eat it with a spoon.

Crème Pâtissière - Vanilla Pastry Cream

In France bakers would probably use vanilla sugar or vanilla paste in this recipe. If you have real vanilla extract or essence, that works just as nicely. 

Ingredients to make about 1 1/4 cups or 300ml

1 cup or 240ml milk

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch (US) or cornflour (UK)

1 large egg

Pinch fine sea salt 

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

Method

Heat the milk over medium high heat and bring it to a simmer, till it just starts to steam. 

While heating the milk, place the sugar, cornstarch, egg and salt in a bowl. Whisk until you have a thick, smooth mixture. 

Place the bowl with the egg mixture on a towel or napkin (to prevent the bowl from slipping while whisking in the next step), and set aside until the milk just starts to steam. 

Slowly pour the hot milk in a thin stream into the egg mix, WHILE WHISKING CONSTANTLY to temper the egg mix. 

Pour it all back into the saucepan. 

Heat over a medium heat, while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken. This should take about 1 – 2 minutes depending on the heat of your stove and size of your saucepan. Do not neglect whisking every part of the pan to make sure the mixture isn’t catching and lumps aren’t forming. 

Keep cooking and whisking until it’s really thick and a spoon pulled through the pastry cream leaves a gap that doesn’t refill. 

Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract until they are completely mixed in.

Pour the pastry cream into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the whole surface. This is to prevent a skin from forming on top. 

Pop the pastry cream in the refrigerator for a few hours, until completely chilled and set.

Use as needed or eat with a spoon.

Enjoy! 

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Smothered Potatoes with Sausage

Take some flavorful smoked sausage, a bunch of potatoes, a generous helping of thinly sliced onions and cook them all down till the potatoes are on the verge of crumbling and the onions practically disappear.  Add a few peas for color and you’ve got smothered potatoes with sausage, one of the easiest one pan meals your whole family will love. 

When I was growing up, this dish made an appearance on our family dinner table with great regularity. It was so easy that my sister and I could even make it on our own. When our mother went back to work, the two of us took turns cooking dinner each night.  I’m not talking gourmet meals. We ate a lot of Hamburger Helper. And Tuna Helper. We were pretty good at spaghetti sauce too and even learned how to smother round steak with onions. But smothered potatoes with sausage was my personal favorite. 

We used either red potatoes, which didn’t need peeling or larger potatoes that did. Either way, the best part was smashing the potatoes into flavorful juices at the bottom of the pan and trying to make sure the bites of sausage came out even with the bites of potato in my bowl. So good! 

Of course, once I had a family of my own, I continued making this great dish but I started adding the peas for color. And because we love peas. Did you know that the average British person only eats about 9,000 peas per year? No idea how many the average American eats but we figure it’s far below the British average. We have made it a personal family goal to try and up the numbers, throwing peas in everything from pasta carbonara to beef stew. I suggest you do the same. 

Smothered Potatoes with Sausage

A little less sausage or a couple more potatoes really won't make a difference in this tasty dish. I give my amounts as a guideline only. 

Ingredients

1 lb 8 oz or 675g smoked sausage

Olive oil

2.2 lbs or 1 kg potatoes, whole small ones or peeled, quartered

larger ones

2 medium onions, peeled and finely sliced

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

2⁄3 cup or 100g frozen garden peas, thawed (We like the little ones called petits pois.)

To serve, optional: crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes

Method

Cut your sausage into pieces. 

Put the sausage and a good drizzle of olive oil in a skillet large enough to eventually hold all of your ingredients. You will need a skillet with a good fitting lid.

Heat over a medium flame and cook for a few minutes until the sausage starts to brown and caramelize.

Add in the potatoes with a cup or 240ml water. Stir to mix any tasty sticky bits from the pot into the water.

Pile the sliced onions on the top and close the lid. 

Turn the flame down to medium low and cook for about 40­-45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the onions have practically melted into an oniony gravy. 

Check from time to time and add more water, if necessary. If you are using peeled cut potatoes, they will probably take a shorter time to cook and will need more water, as they soak up what's in there.

When the potatoes are tender, add in the peas. Cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper but keep in mind that smoked sausage can be salty so do check before just adding both. Serve, if desired, with crushed red pepper to sprinkle on.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with potatoes. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha's Recipe. Check out the potato dishes below. 

• Cheesy Crockpot Tater Tots by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Flying Saucer - Toaster Sandwich /Jaffle by Sneha's Recipe
• Gnocchi and Team Gorgonzola Cream by Culinary Cam
• Matar Bateta Nu Shaak by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Potato Smiles |by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Smothered Potatoes and Sausage by Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Brown Butter Sourdough Waffles

These brown butter sourdough waffles get most of their rise from the baking powder and egg but all of their flavor from the sourdough starter and brown butter! They are fluffy inside and crispy outside. 

I had a love affair with brown butter a few years ago. It seemed to go so well in everything from wine sauce for lobster ravioli and braised baby turnips to shortbread cookies and banana muffins. In fact, I think I have shared six or maybe even seven muffin recipes with brown butter! It's so good, y'all! 

When I was looking at ways to add more flavor to a waffle batter, I suddenly remembered my old love. The reunion was sweet!  Brown butter adds a lovely subtle flavor and I think it also helped the waffles cook up crispier on the outside. 

Brown Butter Sourdough Waffles

My sourdough starter is 100 percent hydration meaning that whenever I add an amount of flour to feed it, I also add an equal weight of water. If your starter is thicker, you may need a little extra milk to thin the batter to a good consistency for waffles. All ingredients should be at room temperature so the butter doesn't harden up again before you can whisk the batter. This recipe make 6-7 Belgian waffles.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons or 42g unsalted butter

1/2 cup or 120g sourdough starter discard (unfed), at room temperature

1 cup or 240ml milk, at room temperature, plus a little extra if your starter is thick

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 cup or 125g flour 

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Canola or other light oil for greasing the waffle iron

To serve:

Your favorite syrup

Butter

Method

Brown your butter in a small pan, over a medium flame, watching it carefully as after it has completely melted and stirring occasionally. It will take a few minutes but the milk solids will separate out and start to brown. 

When the butter has become a light copper color, remove the pan from the heat, pour the butter into another vessel and set aside to cool. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cooled brown butter, sourdough starter, milk and egg until well combined

Add the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt, and continue to whisk until smooth. 

If the batter seems too thick, add more milk as needed to thin out the texture. 

Preheat the waffle iron and lightly brush it with the oil. 

Ladle your waffle iron manufacturer’s recommended amount of the batter into the waffle iron making sure not to overfill! My first two are always a little smaller than they could be because I’m afraid to overfill and make a mess.

After that, I get braver!

Cook for 3-5 minutes - or as long as recommended by your waffle iron manufacturer - until golden and crisp. My waffle iron has a light that turns on and off to let you know when it has preheated sufficiently and when the waffles are cooked. Very handy! That said, I usually leave mine in just a little bit longer for extra toasting. 

Keep the waffles warm in a low oven as you cook each batch but if you like them crispy, do not cover with foil. This will cause them to soften from the trapped steam.

Serve warm with the syrup of your choice and more butter, if desired. 

Enjoy! 

Today for Sunday FunDay, we are celebrating Candlemas, that date on the Christian calendar when baby Jesus was first presented at the temple. The tradition is to make and eat crepes or pancakes, a custom attributed to Pope Gelasius in the 5th century who offered galettes to the pilgrims who came to carry candles in processions to mark the 40th day after Christmas. 

But, according to Sortir á Paris, it also has origins in pagan festivals. "In those days, Candlemas referred to the fertility of the earth. Farmers used to bake crêpes with surplus flour from the previous year. With their round shape and golden color, pancakes symbolized light, sunshine and the return of fine weather."

Whatever the reason, Christian or pagan, I'm always up for making batter for crepes or pancakes and today our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm said waffles are fair game too! Check out the great recipes we are sharing today.

• Food Lust People Love: Brown Butter Sourdough Waffles 
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Lefse 
• Our Good Life: Pancake Puffs 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Roasted Vegetable Crepes 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Sourdough Pancakes 
• Culinary Cam: Strawberry Japanese Soufflé Pancakes

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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