Hello everyone,
I'm making a white chocolate pastry cream for a cake I'm doing in a little less than a month. (Recipe Follows) I know it's really early still but this is for my best friend's baby shower and there will be a lot of people there so this could mean a lot of potential clients. The cake will be for about 50 or so people but I plan on making extra. Let's say 70 servings. I just have a couple questions concerning this recipe.

Will it taste better or richer if I substitute the milk for cream??

Can I use egg yolks in the box instead of 10 eggs yolks called for in the recipe OR can I use 5 whole eggs instead of just 10 egg yolks. The reason I'm asking is because I don't know what to so with the whites and I don't want then to go to waste.

Can I use more chocolate than it says in the recipe??

Last but not least............. will this recipe be enough for 70 servings??



1 quart milk
2 cups granulated sugar
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
10 large egg yolks, beaten
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter

Combine the milk, sugar, chocolate, and vanilla in a large nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Whisk to incorporate the chocolate. When the mixture comes to a gentle boil or simmers after about 5 minutes, take 1 cup of the chocolate mixture and add it to the yolks. Whisk well. Slowly whisk the yolks into the chocolate mixture. Cook over medium heat until it thickens slightly, about 4 to 5 minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water. Slowly stir into the hot liquid. Continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Pour into a glass bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Cool completely and chill for at least 4 hours.




Thanks so much for your help!!!!!

it sounds so delicius. You can´t use 5 whole eggs instead of the 10 yolks. The youlks helps thicken the creme. I don´t know what eggs in the box are, but if it is fresh salmonella free separated youlks, I suppose you can.

Cream will definately enhance the taste.

Personally, I am a stickler for sticking to a recipe when you are not familar with it. I would use whole milk, Homogenized. But I would tend not to use cream instead mainly because it is thicker and will change the consistency. You have to be careful when you are changing the ingredients because baking and making fillings and such, is based on a formula. When you change one thing, you need to adjust others, more often than not.
The egg yolks along with the cornstarch are your thickening agent in this recipe.
When you adjust chocolate amounts, you can get a funny texture thing happening in a pudding type filling like this.
I guess the amount you need will vary a lot according to what size and what you are making, if you are torting etc. sorry can't help you there.
One thing though, is this recipe originally designed to make with regular chocolate chips and you are substituting white chocolate chips instead? Because if this is the case, I can tell you that white chocolate chips have a different consistency, usually more liquid once melted and this will also affect the way the recipe turns out.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Squirrelly,
I plan on using white chocolate chips so does that mean I should use less milk?? I'm so confused

Daniela, I think this is going to be one of those things that would be worth trying out, say a 1/4 recipe on. I have played around a bit with the white chocolate chips, they are more liquidy when melted. They may be fine in this recipe and then again, they may need a reduction in the liquid to get the consistency you desire.
Were you going to use the baking white chocolate chips?
I wouldn't reduce anything, I would just give it a try on a smaller basis first to see what happens.
Hugs Squirrelly

I usually follow new recipes to the tee too, and if it comes out good, I never change a thing. As far as the whites go, make some royal icing flowers, or an angel food cake for the family, or top off a pie with some merigue. Mama always said...waste not, want not.
Brenda

Hey Daniela

Egg yolkes is what gives pastry cream that richness
I personally think you cannot use the whites .....too much liquid
Just freeze the whithes for italian merengue buttercream

Good luck

AShiana

Daneila,this recipe sounds yummy, is it used for a filling or to frost the cake? thanks

Thanks for the ideas for my egg whites everyone. I didn't know I could freeze them. How do I do that?? Just beat them a bit and put them in an airtight container??


Irisinbloom,
I plan on using this recipe to fill a chocolate cake. I saw it on a show the other day and it looked so yummy that I really wanted to try it.

Thanks Daneila, please let me know how it turns out. I have a lady wanting a cake in November for her twins and she wants whipped topping for the icing and I have never done anything other than bc. I have some recipes but have not tried them out and I hate to experiment on a customer, I always like to try them out first but I am pushed for time on other things, again thanks

When are you making this cake?? I plan on using this recipe for Nov. 27 so I'm not sure if that's good enough for you.

Daniela- It sounds delicious, but I think you need to absolutely avoid using white chocolate chips. They have ingredients in them that allow them to hold their shape that make them gummy when melted and used in a recipe. Before I knew this, I tried using them in an icing and it was a disaster. Unfortunately, the alternative is expensive. You need to use a high quality white chocolate. Look for cocoa butter as one of the main things on the ingredient list. Cheaper white chocolates will have palm oil and that sort of thing high on the ingredient list. My local cake store sells bulk blocks of nice-quality white chocolate. Do you have somewhere like that near you?

I think whole milk will be plenty rich, especially when combined with egg yolks and the fat from the chocolate.

Too bad you don't live near me. I'm dieting and I use egg whites all the time and throw the yolks away!

Good luck and please let us know how it turns out.

Well Holly, funnily enough, when I tried subsituting white chocolate, Godiva it was, for the chocolate chips in another recipe, I had the same issue. This is why I would do a trial run. I think that in some cases, adjustments will be needed anyway. Since this recipe already calls for chocolate chips, I would have tried the white chocolate ones to begin with to see. Of course ever recipe is different, now in a mousse, definitely I would not use the white chocolate baking chips. But I am not so sure on this one.
It will be interesting to see how it goes.
Hugs Squirrelly

Regular milk and dark chocolate chips usually work fine in this type of recipe. I use good quality chocolate chips to make ganache and icings. However, white chocolate chips are a completely different thing because they're not a true chocolate, therefore they don't behave in the same way.

In cookies, or other recipes when the chips are going to be whole and not melted, it's perfectly fine to substitute white chocolate chips in a recipe that calls for regular chocolate chips.

Edit: oops--I posted the same thing twice

Thanks for the info everyone. Since I read what everyone has to say I'm going to do things a little differently. I'll either try to find good quality white chocolate like Holly suggested or I'll just make a regular chocolate pastry cream with dark chocolate. I'm a chicken when it comes to making things I'm not sure about and I really want to make a good impression on this cake.

What do you think I should do???. I won't be making this cake for another couple of weeks and the mom-to-be left it completely to me when it comes to cake flavors. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I'm even willing to make a vanilla cake if you think it's a better idea.

I'd be very tempted to make a practice batch of the white chocolate pastry cream, just so you'd know for sure whether or not it would be good. That would be expensive, though.

Have you seen this recipe from www.thejoyofcooking.com?
There is a white chocolate variation, which just might solve your problem.
Creme Patissiere (Pastry Cream)
click for printable page


Pastry cream is a staple in pastry kitchens as it is a very versatile cream used to fill cakes, cream puffs, éclairs, Napoleons, tarts, and other pastries. It is a rich, thick custard made from a mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, flour and cornstarch (a thickener) cooked on the stove. Vanilla beans, liqueurs, chocolate, coffee and fruit purées are some complementary flavorings added to pastry creams. If a lighter pastry cream is desired heavy whipping cream can be added.


In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a wooden spoon. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Sift the flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste. Set aside.

Meanwhile in a saucepan combine the milk and split vanilla bean on medium heat until boiling. (The milk will foam up to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.) Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and add the seeds to the egg mixture. (The vanilla bean can be dried and placed in your sugar bowl to give the sugar a vanilla flavor. This sugar can then be used in baking where you would like a vanilla-flavored sugar, e.g. pies, cakes, cookies.)

Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.

Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur (if using). Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Beat before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

For a light pastry cream, just before using, fold in the softly whipped cream with a wooden spoon.

Recipe:

1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1/8 cup (20 grams) all-purpose flour

Scant 3 tablespoons (20 grams) cornstarch

3/4 tablespoon (10 ml) liqueur (Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch)

Makes about 1 cup

For light pastry cream add:

1/2 cup (115 ml) heavy cream, softly whipped (optional)

Variations:

Chocolate pastry cream:

Add: 2 ounces (50 grams) of melted bittersweet or semi-sweet, milk or white chocolate into the hot milk (before you add it to the egg and flour mixture)

Coffee pastry cream:

Add: 1/2 - 1 Tablespoon instant espresso or instant coffee powder into hot milk.

Raspberry pastry cream:

Add: 1/4 cup (60 ml) (or to taste) raspberry puree to pastry cream

Daneila, I believe she wants the cake on November 14th, I may have to burn the mid night oil a little to try out a recipe or two, thanks again

Are you going to try the white chocolate pastry cream?? I'm tempted to try it out.


Thanks for the recipe Squirrelly.

I'll definately let you know what happens!!

I don't know anything about changeing anything llike they are offering but i can offer this it is a recipe converter I use it all the time

http://kmiller.ecorp.net/recipe/index.html

to make more or less of something I am cooking I mainly use it for dinner or potlucks I am sure it will work for cakes and all the sweetness you can put onto a cake.
Lisa

Thanks for the link klkhoneycutt