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Nutella Chronicles…Nutella Pastry Cream

Nutella Pastry Cream PINTEREST

Every year countless of women and men wreck their brains over what they are doing for Valentine’s day. Ā Some consider it a typical Hallmark holiday but the hopeless romantics incessantly search for the perfect date night. Ā The beauty is it does not have to be as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. Ā Speaking from experience, Valentine’s Day does not have to be expensive and lavish but instead loving and original.

My husband has given me some pretty memorable Valentine’s Days. Ā He has taken me to plays, top Chicago restaurants and given me special gifts. Ā But one of the most memorable Valentine’s Days was one when there were no restaurants, no fancy outfits, no lavish gifts.

I came over to his house after a 12 hour work day as a server, on the busiest night of the year, exhausted and frankly sick of Valentine’s Day. Ā Adorned in my garlic infused work uniform and a few splatters of marinara, I walked into the house ready to grab my bottle of wine and go to sleep.

Instead, he walked me down the stairs to his basement and revealed his surprise. Ā A room full of lit candles, a bottle of Champagne and handmade chocolate dipped strawberries with a bottle of Redi Whip cream. Ā The strawberries were adorably messy and irresistibly sweet and the Redi Whip was just so deliciously perfect.

We giggled and sprayed whip cream at each other and cuddled up to watch a movie. Ā There were no views from the 99th floor of some swanky building nor were there any fancy outfits. Ā It was us and a simple spread of sweets and laughter. Ā Which happened to be just enough.

If I can tell you anything it’s that, on the busiest day in the restaurant world, do yourself a favor and stay in.

While you are at it whip yourself up this tantalizing dessert.

It’s incredibly easy but impossible to resist. Ā Grab a bottle of Champagne and go crazy over this sweet and creamy dessert.

Start by combining the eggs and corn starch in a bowl with a whisk. Ā Whisk until the cornstarch is incorporated evenly into the eggs.

Nutella Pastry Cream-002

Pour milk and sugar into a medium sized sauce pan and bring to a boil. Ā ***If you want Ā to make plain vanilla pastry cream, just add in a split vanilla bean into the milk to infuse it with vanilla-y flavor. Ā And omit the Nutella obviously***

Once the milk boils, pour the milk into the egg mixture one ladle at a time; using half of the egg mixture. Ā This is called tempering. Ā You want to do this because if you combine the hot liquid with the eggs without tempering they will curdle.

At this point pour the egg mixture back into the sauce pan and bring it back up to a boil while stirring vigorously with a whisk.

Once the pastry cream has thickened up, remove from heat and add nutella. Ā Nutella Pastry Cream-004

Pour into beautiful glasses or ramekins and cool until ready to eat.nutella pastry cream

Garnish with confectioners sugar and enjoy. Ā ***Hint…You can also use this to fill eclairs, cakes, macarons, puff pastry, filo dough and practically any other fillable dessert you can think of. Ā If this cools and you would like to whip up some more air into it to make it frothy, you can place it in a mixer with a whipping attachment and whip away for a few minutes! Ā Add in some whipped whipping cream into it to make it light and fluffy like a mousse!***

nutella pastry cream

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Nutella Pastry Cream PINTEREST

A Simple Valentineā€™s Dayā€¦Nutella Pastry Cream


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 Cups of Whole Milk
  • 1 Cup of Sugar
  • 6 Egg Yolks
  • 1/3 Cup Corn Starch
  • 1.5 Cups Nutella

Instructions

  1. Combine eggs and corn starch in a bowl with a whisk.
  2. Pour milk and sugar into a medium sized sauce pan and bring to a boil.
  3. Once the milk boils, pour the milk into the egg mixture one ladle at a time; using half of the egg mixture. ***This is called tempering. You want to do this because if you combine the hot liquid with the eggs without tempering they will curdle.***
  4. At this point pour the egg mixture back into the sauce pan and bring it back up to a boil while stirring vigorously with a whisk.
  5. Once the pastry cream has thickened up, remove from heat and add nutella.
  6. Pour into beautiful glasses or ramekins and cool until ready to eat.
  7. Garnish with confectioners sugar and enjoy.

*** Originally published on Feb 7th 2014***

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63 Comments

    1. Becka, I am doing a whole Nutella chronicles on the blog. If you search for it you will find several recipes šŸ™‚

      1. Hellooooooo
        Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
        Just finished making a half batch of the Nutella pastry cream and wowwza!!
        So fast, so simple and so impressive
        I used it to fill some sweet mini tarts and my daughter is hijacking them to take to work tomorrow good thing I put a bit in a ramekin so I could enjoy it tomorrow once everyone is outta the house

    1. Rachael… Thanks for coming by! As I said in the blog, you can just use a vanilla bean or even vanilla extract to make a vanilla pastry cream. Or add in some lemon zest for a lemony twist. Or add in some cocoa powder or melted chocolate chips! This is a blank canvas for you to play with šŸ™‚ good luck!

  1. Oooh how tempting is the whole of your home page and this particular dish! And it’s made all the harder for me today as I’m commenting from the SITS challenge but I’m fasting today so it’s hard to look at all this wonderful food. But I’ll be back on a day when I can fully appreciate your recipes. šŸ™‚

    1. Thanks so much for your comments!!!
      I will be checking out your blog shortly as well!!! I so appreciate you coming by and let me know if you have any questions šŸ˜‰

  2. YUM! I am here from the SITS Girls comment love activity and glad I came by. My daughter just made Nutella buns – like a cinnamon bun but with Nutella in it. There is plenty left so I may try this.

    1. Ahhh yes I love cinnamon buns… I actually cloned the Cinnabon recipe and have it on my site as well šŸ™‚
      Thanks for stopping by Nicki!

  3. Who would have thought something that kids put on their sandwich, could make such a romantic dish! I love chocolate myself, and this dessert definitely fits the bill.

    1. Hey there!!! Thanks for stopping by!! This is such a simple dessert and it’s a go to when I have some yolks to use up it when I need to whip up a dessert last minute šŸ™‚

    1. Yes it is divine… And yes a dug in with a spoon right into the pot while no one was watching šŸ˜‰ thanks for stopping by!

    1. Rachee!!!! I’m glad you found my blog too! I do a whole Nutella chronicles on the blog! You can like me on Facebook and follow along šŸ™‚

    1. Ummmm Nutella is a fave of mine too obviously!!! I do something called the Nutella chronicles on the blog where I post different Nutella recipes!

    1. Morgan,
      So glad you stopped by! I used wine glasses cuz it was the fanciest thing I could think of haha. It just happened to actually work out in my favor! Great to see you here! Let me know how it turns out or if you have any questions šŸ™‚

  4. OMG – this looks amazing. I can’t cook worth a darn, but my kids can and they LOVE to make dessert. And with Nutella – this will be a hit. (Oh, and if there’s chocolate involved, I actually will enter the kitchen, so this will be a family affair!) Thanks for the great recipe we’ll ALL be making together!!
    xo ~kim & chloe @ popcosmo.com

    1. Awww Kim yeay! That is one of my goals! To bring families together in the kitchen! And I bet you with a little coaching from me…you can cook šŸ™‚
      Thanks for stopping by darling!

    1. Indeed it would NJ! Thanks for stopping by! If you are a real lover of Nutella make sure you check out the rest of the Nutella chronicles recipes on the blog!

  5. This sounds delicious and decadent – and I am practically addicted to Nutella! We are going out for a fun throwback date at the mall but I might need to make this one date night in soon!

  6. My mouth is literally wide open lol as if I am getting a serving after I finish reading your post lol this sounds AMAZING. I love quiet valentines days too. We never ever ever do the out to dinner thing. šŸ™‚

    1. Haha Nicole!!! Thanks for the compliment šŸ™‚ and it truly is delish! I think we will be doing something quiet and romantic this year too šŸ™‚

  7. This looks SO good! We pretty much always stay in on Valentine’s day because we both hate fighting the crowds. We usually get take out, but I usually try to make some kind of sweet treat for dessert. This may be it this year!

    1. Seriously I cannot explain how easy it is! And the flavor and presentation payoff is HUGE! People will think you spent all day in the kitchen šŸ™‚

  8. I just adore your Valentine’s story! It reminds me of our first married Valentine’s Day – I had $6.00 and spent it on 2 chicken breasts and 3 balloons. I prepared dinner and gathered all my dried flowers and vases, all the candles we owned and made us a pallet on the floor – an indoor picnic! We had been married 11 days šŸ™‚

    1. OMG NOEL…. That is sooooo uber sweet and romantic…just gave me a toothache it was soo sweet šŸ™‚ Thanks for dropping by and telling me this fantastic story…

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