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Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is a thick cooked custard used to fill pastries, tarts, cakes, and other desserts.

Pastry Cream — illustrative ingredient image

About Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is a thick cooked custard made by heating milk or another dairy liquid with egg yolks or eggs, sugar, and a starch such as flour or cornstarch. Vanilla is common, but flavourings vary. It is used to fill éclairs, cream puffs, tarts, mille-feuille, cakes, and other pastries.

It is smooth, glossy, and spoonable, with a pale yellow colour and a set texture when chilled. The flavour reflects the dairy, eggs, sugar, vanilla, or other flavourings used. Recipes vary in dairy base, egg content, starch, flavouring, and enrichment.

Pastry cream is usually sold or prepared as a chilled custard filling. It may be loosened, flavoured, or combined with whipped cream or butter for related preparations. These changes alter its firmness and richness, while the base ingredient remains a cooked custard rather than uncooked cream.

Ingredient type
compound ingredient

Forms & related ingredients

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Where pastry cream appears

6 linked foods

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Desserts

Ingredient connections awaiting review · Coverage is still growing, including packaged snacks.

Name examples awaiting language review. Confirm the specific food or product.

Local names for pastry cream

Names and romanised forms to recognise on menus and labels.

English

pastry cream

Available names only. Languages may be spoken in other countries; a name alone does not identify every ingredient in a dish.

Pastry Cream nutrition & diet

Pastry Cream nutritional value

Reference: Custard, confectioners'

Per 100 g of the edible portion of the stated reference food.

Calories
153kcal
Protein
6.6g
Carbs
24.8g
Fat
3.8g

Reference example for the named food and preparation, per 100 g edible portion. This is not a universal value for every recipe or brand; packaged products should be compared with their own label. CoFID 2021 food code 12-572. Carbohydrate follows the dataset’s available-carbohydrate convention. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.

Portions & preparation

Compare the prepared custard as eaten, including whether it is made with whole milk, cream, eggs, sugar, starch, or flavorings. Portion size and use in a pastry or tart matter because the surrounding crust, filling, glaze, and toppings may contribute substantially to the finished serving.

Compare the right form: Match references to cooked pastry cream, not instant powder or uncooked custard; establish the milk, egg, starch, sugar, and flavoring recipe.

Diet considerations

Pastry cream is a compound preparation commonly containing dairy and egg, with possible cereal-derived starch or flour. It is not simply a plant or animal food category. Compatibility changes with dairy-free substitutions, gelatin, alcohol flavorings, wheat-containing thickeners, and the pastry, cake, or other cereal-based product carrying it.

AI-authored reading notes · Awaiting editorial review. Measured values, where available, have a separate source above.

Dietary compatibility

  • Vegan
    Typically incompatible
  • Vegetarian
    Depends on the version
  • Pescatarian
    Depends on the version
  • Keto
    Not established
  • Paleo
    Typically incompatible
  • Low-carb
    Not established
  • Halal
    Not established
  • Kosher
    Not established
What these diet assessments mean
Vegan · Typically incompatible
Recorded common ingredients: Cow Milk; Egg. The ingredient profile identifies an animal-derived food or derivative. Recipes and products can differ.
Vegetarian · Depends on the version
Check the version or source of: Sugar. Check the refining process and processing aids for the particular producer.
Pescatarian · Depends on the version
Check the version or source of: Sugar. Check the refining process and processing aids for the particular producer.
Keto · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Paleo · Typically incompatible
Recorded common ingredients: Sugar; Cow Milk. This profile falls outside the conventional paleo pattern used here (grains and pseudograins, legumes, dairy or refined sugar). Recipes and products can differ.
Low-carb · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Halal · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish halal status.
Kosher · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish kosher status.

For the plain ingredient · Awaiting review. Diet compatibility is not allergy suitability or halal/kosher certification. Keto and low-carb depend on the portion.

Reviewed ingredient entryIngredient reference · Preparations vary

AI-generated illustration for visual context. It does not identify a particular product or establish allergen content.

Sources & review

Nutrition reference: UK Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID), 2021 — Custard, confectioners' ↗. Values are scaled from 100 g of the recorded edible form. Individual portions have no assumed fixed weight.

Expanded overview, name examples and nutrition notes are database drafts awaiting editorial review. Numeric nutrition values, where shown, have their own source and food-form reference.

The ingredient description and dish connections come from the draft catalogue and may change after review.

Last recorded verification: .