I made vanilla pastry cream today..

for the first time using a whole vanilla bean rather than extract and OMG.. it is soooo good. I am making eclairs tomorrow and wanted to get this made so it could chill overnight. The whole bean gives it such a wonderful flavor.. so much better than the extract. And the little seeds crunch in your mouth.. LOL. It's like eating sushi with the tobiko (flying fish eggs) on it.. only it tastes like a creamy vanilla dream.. not raw fish.. . I will never make this without the whole beans again. I just wanted to say something that might get someone to give it a go. Well worth the minimal effort to open the bean and scrape the seeds out. If anyone wants the recipe let me know and I'll gladly give it.

I bought mine at a specialty store in the mall, but some grocery store will have them. They are the seed pod of the vanilla orchid.. they go through a lengthy process of curing before they have that signature aroma.. and your extracts are made from them. Long, slender and dark brown.. they look like a really long brown dried up green bean.. LOL.. they have what seems like millions of tiny seeds inside that give the best flavor to your cooking. I used burbon vanilla beans but there is also tahitian beans. You can go here to see pictures and read about it all.. http://www.vanilla.com I love learning about new things though so don't feel like you HAVE to..

No problem at all.. I tend to go on and on about things that interest me.. . The vanilla beans really are good.. far better than the extract (at least in this application). I would assume it would be true for most things.

Of course I will.. I'll give you the recipe for the pastry to make the eclair shell if you want it or not.. It sounds harder than it is.. honestly. The pastry cream took me no time to make and it is SOOOOOOO worth it!

Pate A Choux (The Puff Part)

1/4 liter water (250 ml) (1 cup)
200 g flour (¾ cup plus 2 table spoons)
100 g butter (7 tablespoons)
pinch of salt
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil water, butter, salt. Take the boiling mixture of the stove and add the flour. Mix it real well to remove any lumps. Put back on the stove and keep stirring until it's dry and a little hard to stir. This is the important part is removing as much moisture from the mix. Add the eggs one at a time until each one gets incorporated. It will look like itâs falling apart and will be a little hard to incorporate, but donât worry⦠it will come back together into a nice thick, creamy batter. Spoon your puffs or put the mixture in an icing bag with the coupler alone and pipe in a quick circular motion about the size of a golf ball. For the éclairs pipe them in a line about 4 inches long and 1 inch wide rather than a little ball. Bake for 30 â 40 minutes or until they are nice and golden. When cooking them.. try not to open the stove just peak from the glass. Take them out of the oven and prick a few holes in the top to allow the steam to escape or they will collapse on you. You can put them back in the oven to dry out further if you want, just watch them so they donât burn.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

2 1/4 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in 1/2 lengthwise and seeds scraped out
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch, sifted

In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, vanilla bean pods and seeds. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Slowly add 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolks, whisking constantly until smooth then add the rest of the hot milk mixture to the bowl whisking to combine. Return to the sauce pan through a fine mesh strainer (make sure to add the pod back as well) and continue to cook over medium heat stirring constantly with a heavy wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove from the heat and put into a clean container. Remove the pod. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 4 hours. When ready to use, remove from the refrigerator and beat until smooth. Right out of the fridge it will be a coagulated mass and needs to be smoothed out.

Chocolate Ganache

4 oz heavy cream
4 oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chopped (can use chips)

Heat heavy cream until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat, add the chocolate and let it sit for 2-5 minutes. Stir the mixture until it coem together and let cool.

To put it all together.. take your puff shells and slice them down the top. Fill with the pastry cream and dip the tops in the ganache and let sit to firm up.. if you can resist..

JUST incase you needed some inspiration to give it a go.. here's the finished product...

Which one?? Maybe the internet monster ate my ability to see it's evil doings??

Nope.. it really is 3/4 of a cup plus 2 table spoons.. it's just under a cup. I am sure you could probably use a full cup and have no isses. Or Just measure the cup and remove 2 tablespoons.. either way you wil get ~ 200 grams. A full cup weighs ~ 228 grams.