A simple, no-fail recipe for classic, creamy vanilla pastry cream! Plus, a recipe for German buttercream! This is one recipe that every baker must have in their recipe collection. You can use this creamy custard recipe as a filling for tarts, cakes, cupcakes, eclairs, cream puffs or even cookies! I love the versatility of this recipe and use it quite often in my kitchen!
Watch My Video!
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Tips For Success!
A few tips for making the perfect creamy vanilla pastry cream and German buttercream!
- Do not cook the custard over high heat. High heat will overcook the starch, causing the custard to separate. If this happens, create another slurry using 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water. Add it to the broken custard and cook again for a few minutes until the custard thickens.
- This custard can be made with or without the butter. I prefer adding the butter because it makes the custard super creamy.
Flavor Options!
I also love that this recipe can be easily changed to incorporate other flavors other than vanilla. I’ve made this custard with coffee – just add a teaspoon of coffee extract, or a few teaspoons of instant coffee; chocolate – add 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips along with the butter; caramel – add 1/2 cup dulce de leche or my salted caramel sauce. Whichever flavor you go with, vanilla or otherwise, this custard is simply delicious. It’s creamy, smooth and aromatic!
How To Make German Buttercream
Bonus recipe alert! As I was filming the recipe for the vanilla pastry cream, I knew I had to share a traditional recipe for German custard buttercream! If you have never tried this buttercream, give it a try for your next cake! This recipe yields a super smooth, creamy and pipe-able cream that holds its shape very well.
- For the German buttercream, add the chilled custard slowly, about 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time. Adding too much custard at once will cause it to separate, as will over mixing.
It’s a great buttercream recipe for cakes and cupcakes and it’s also not too sweet. If you want to add additional sweetness, add 1 cup confectioner’s sugar to the frosting. As I mention in my video, I find that using a hand mixer works better for this frosting; my stand mixer always over-mixes the buttercream, causing it to separate.
More Recipes!
Looking for more frosting and cake recipes? I have an entire ‘Back to Cake Basics’ series, showing you how to make simple, everyday recipes that you can mix and match to create your own cake recipe!
- Try my newest ‘Berry Almond Cake’ with almond cake layers and German Buttercream.
- Try my newest addition to the series ‘Italian Meringue Buttercream’ made with egg whites!
- This ‘French Buttercream’ is my all-time favorite buttercream recipe! It’s super smooth, creamy, silky and just overall amazing!
- I love this classic ‘Cream Cheese Frosting’!
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Need some supplies to make this recipe? You can get them here (Amazon affiliate links):
This is a similar stainless steel sauce pot to the one I have – so handy for making the custard.
I love this set of nesting glass mixing bowls – a must for food prep.
My favorite whisk – this sturdy All-Clad whisk is amazing!
And my handy, handheld KitchenAid mixer gets the job done when I don’t want to get out my larger stand mixer.
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Танечка привет! Thank you for putting so much effort and energy into all this work! Quick question for you. You have two pictures of the cream. One is piped and the other looks more of a yogurt consistency. I would like to use it for trybochki. Just thought I church.
Thanks in advance?
Hi! Yes, the one that looks like yogurt/pudding is the custard base, which is typically used for filling cakes and tarts. The piped buttercream is made using the custard and that’s what you’ll want to use for trybochki! 🙂
Tatyana, I want to say a huge Thank You for sharing this recipe! I have done it yesterday and used it on cupcakes. The buttercream is amazing! So fluffy and yummy! Not even mentioning how great it pipes. Thank you again!
Aww, you’re so welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Hello Tatyana, I just tried to make the german buttercream and tried to pipe flowers on cupcakes but the frosting was melting on me. What could be the issue, it is not holding up at all.
thank you
Oh, no! Did the frosting separate or just didn’t hold its shape? Try refrigerating it for a few hours to chill it down. Make sure when you add the custard, that it’s completely cooled.
Hi Tatyana
Hi just made your German Butter Cream and it split on the last part of putting in the custard I purchased your European Cake Cookbook hoping you had a cake with that type of topping my mother used to make the chocolate & Vanilla one all the time unfortunately she passed & never thought me how to make it what did I do wrong? Pls
Thank you Liz
Hi Liz! Thank you so much for purchasing my book! I’m so sorry the recipe for the buttercream didn’t work out. Did you make sure to cool it down? Also, you need to be careful not to over mix the frosting once you add in the custard. Hope it turns out better for you next time!
Hi Tatyana, I’d like to know how much custard creme this makes ( how many servings)
It makes about 2 1/2 to 3 cups of custard
Can you use this buttercream frosting under fondant? Also for the milk, can you use 2% milk instead of whole milk? Also one last question, does this buttercream need to be refrigerated before use? And, is this buttercream stable for Russian tips, and would it be able to stay out in hot temperatures? Sorry for asking a lot of questions. I just want everything to go well. Thanks!
Yes, it should be just fine under fondant after refrigeration. I would ice the cake first, then refrigerate, then cover in fondant. I think it would work beatifully with Russian tips after refrigeration.
And I used whole milk for the cream. Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Hi, thank you very much for your reply. But, I was asking if you could use 2% milk instead of using whole milk. Also, do you have to refrigerate this frosting before use, and would this buttercream be fine after a couple of hours without refrigeration?
Thanks
Oh, absolutely! I like whole milk because it has a richer taste but 2% will work just as well. I don’t refrigerate it before using and it it’s always been fine. I do refrigerate my cake after decorating it to allow the frosting to set up then.
Hi Tatyana,
I tried this recipe today and it didn’t turn out the way I wanted.
After I added the pudding, it started to curdle and it became soupy. Could it be because I added less butter? I don’t know what’s wrong. Also, my buttercream was yellower than your buttercream. I really hope there are solutions to these problems.?
Hi Tatyana,
I attempted your recipe today. I got the custard to turn out, however it was a bit yellower than yours. I’m assuming it’s because I didn’t beat the egg whites as much as I should have.
When is came time to adding the cooled custard to the butter that I beat, it didn’t seem as ‘tight’ as yours. I was wondering if you had and ideas. I read you do t typically cool your buttercream before use.
What brand of butter did you use. I’m wondering if that’s the key?
Thanks!
Hi Becky! It could be that your eggs just had richer egg yolks. You can try to beat them for longer next time if that bothers you. Make sure to whisk the butter until it’s really light and fluffy, then slowly add the cooled custard. I do like to refrigerate it if I’m piping it. It should be on the creamier side but with a bit of refrigeration (30 minutes), it will hold up better.
Hi Tatyana,
I tried this recipe today and it didn’t turn out the way I wanted.
After I added the pudding, it started to curdle and it became soupy. Could it be because I added less butter? I don’t know what’s wrong. Also, my buttercream was yellower than your buttercream. I really hope there are solutions to these problems.?
Oh, no! 🙁 I’m so sorry to hear that! Did you allow the custard to cool down completely? When you start to add it, it might look weird but it should form a frosting… Also, make sure you whisk the butter before you start adding the custard. I always mix my butter until it’s whipped, light and almost white in color. Mixing the butter longer is key for a more white frosting.
Yes, thank you for your reply. Actually, everything was alright. The custard was really ool. But the butter was weird when I added the custard. It looked like it was melting. Could it be of that, or is it because I added less butter?
Hello
I tried this recipe today and everything was fine until I tried to add butter and a cup icing sugar at the end. It was not stiff at all like in the video. Please can you tell me what went wrong?
Hi! I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t work well for you. Are you trying to make the buttercream or the custard? Once you add the butter into the custard, it needs to chill in the refrigerator to set. If you’re making the buttercream, make sure the custard is completely cooled and add in gradually into the whipped butter. The buttercream will look a little funny at first but you just need to keep adding and mixing. Hope it works well for you next time!