Vanilla Custard (Made With Extract or Vanilla Bean)

If you’re looking to make that thick and creamy sauce found inside of éclairs and used as a topping for dessert (also called “pastry cream”), you’re in the right place. This is a super-easy and super-delicious vanilla custard recipe.

What Is Vanilla Custard?

Vanilla custard is a basic sauce, also called pastry cream or in French, crème pâtissière, that is like a pudding when chilled. It’s used to fill French desserts like éclairs and cream puffs, it’s also used to fill American-style donuts, and is a wonderful topping for other desserts. I actually love it warm on chocolate cake. But it’s usually served cold. 

You can use it anywhere you’d use whipped cream. Speaking of whipped cream, if you fold it into whipped cream (use half of each) you get a luscious topping called Diplomat Cream. Here’s how to make homemade whipped cream if you’re interested. 

Vanilla Bean vs. Paste vs. Extract

You’ve got three options for where your custard is getting its wonderful vanilla flavor – a vanilla bean, jarred vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract.

I call for a vanilla bean in the recipe down below because I think it gives the best flavor, plus you get all those little specks of vanilla throughout your custard. To use a vanilla bean, you will often see that you’re supposed to cut it in half lengthwise and then scrape the seeds out and add that paste to the recipe. You can do that if your vanilla pod is soft and the seeds scrape out easily. However, the vanilla beans sold at my local grocery stores tend to be a bit harder and don’t scrape easily, and so I have found that just cutting them and then adding the whole bean works better. The bean warms in the sauce and the seeds come out.

Vanilla bean paste is also sold at a lot of grocery stores and is a more convenient way to get delicious vanilla bean flavor and specks.

Vanilla extract is more widely available and usually cheaper, so that might be an easier option for you. You do want to make sure you’re getting pure vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla or vanilla flavored extract for the best taste.

• If using vanilla extract, substitute 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for the vanilla bean. 
• If using vanilla bean paste, substitute 2 teaspoons of the paste for the vanilla bean.

What Kind Of Milk Is Custard Made With?

This recipe uses 1 cup of whole milk and a half cup of heavy whipping cream. But you can use all whole milk if you don’t have heavy cream. You could also use all whipping cream, it will just be a much richer flavor. 

You can also make this with a milk that has a lower fat content (like fat-free or 1% milk). It just ends up with a weaker flavor, but is still tasty. Evaporated milk is also a good alternative, and even the fat-free version works well.

Do I Need To Use A Double Boiler?

Because we’re heating egg yolks, some people make custard in a double boiler, which cooks it more gently so it doesn’t scramble the egg. But I’ve found that you can just cook it over medium heat stirring really often until it just starts to thicken and bubble then remove it from the heat and keep stirring for a minute. 

There will be a little bit of scrambled-egg-looking stuff going on in there, but then you’ll strain it through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of that texture. So if you’re intimidated by double boiling, don’t worry about it for this easy vanilla custard recipe.

Serving Vanilla Custard

Like I mentioned before, homemade custard can be served warm or cold. 

The simplest way to serve vanilla custard is paired with some fresh fruit like strawberries and blueberries, or over these Air Fryer Cinnamon Apples. It’s also delicious as part of French Hot Chocolate.

You could serve it warm over cakes, brownies, or pies. You could layer it with cake and whipped cream to create a trifle. There are so many delicious options, let me know in the comments how you’re serving this tasty treat.

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