How can I make pastry cream for a cake filling more a bit more firm/sturdy?

Question

How can I make a pastry cream for a cake filling a bit more sturdy/firm. My recipe called for 5 egg yolks and 3 T. cornstarch, 1 1/2c. whole milk, 1/2c. whipping cream.

Answer 1

The egg yolks and cornstarch both serve as thickeners. Increasing the cornstarch is probably the most practical way to make that recipe firmer; try 5 tbsp as a start. (You could instead increase the amount of egg yolk; this will give you a more solid texture, rather than just a thicker one.)

Answer 2

Honestly, I think Sneftel's answer is good, but if you're weird like me, here are other things you can do:

1) Bloom a package of gelatin and melt into the custard once you've removed it from the heat. Once it begins to thicken, fold the whipped cream in. This would be a hybrid between a pastry cream and Bavarian cream.

2) Butter is very firm when chilled. Allow a stick to soften to room temperature, and beat into your cooled custard a tablespoon or two at a time until you're comfortable, then fold in the whipped cream. This would be a hybrid of a German buttercream and pastry cream.

3) Depending on the amount of pastry cream you need, hold back a 1/2 cup of the milk. If that results in a mixture too thick to fold the cream into once chilled, you can pasteurize that 1/2 cup of milk (get it hot), and add just enough to finish making the pastry cream. Or add extra whipped cream.

4) If you really want to customize it, make a creme anglaise with the yolks and half the milk, then cook the starch (If you decide to increase the starch per Sneftel's answer, this is how I'd do it, because I'm weird) with the other half the milk. cook that until the starch has completely gelled. Mix the creme anglaise with the cooked starch in a new bowl until you're happy with the texture, then similarly fold in the cream until you're satisfied. If you know how much of everything you started with, you can then weigh what's left and put together recipe proportions for yourself based on the amounts you used.

5) The cheater way is to get some instant clearjel and beat that into the too-thin pastry cream. A little goes a long way, and it takes several minutes to fully hydrate and do its job. so add it slowly and give it a break to rest after each addition. The only problem is that I don't like the texture as much as if I had simply cooked more starch... but that might just be my problem.