364 pastry cream recipes

Purple plum chiffon pie with fresh plum puree, whipped cream, and fluffy egg whites set with gelatin in a baked pastry shell. Light, airy, and intensely fruity.

A classic French Alsatian apple tart with a rich cream cheese pastry crust, sliced Granny Smiths, and a silky vanilla-mace custard. Rustic, elegant, and freezer-friendly.

Homemade fried elephant ears: sour-cream and buttermilk dough rolled thin, slit, fried golden, then tumbled in cinnamon sugar. State fair pastry made in your own kitchen.

Maple nut rugelach roll cream cheese pastry around a maple-walnut-cinnamon filling for buttery, crescent-shaped Jewish cookies. Sweetened with pure maple syrup instead of jam.

Kolachky dough made with cream cheese, butter, egg yolks, and flour. An overnight pastry dough that rolls out flaky and tender for filling with fruit or nuts.

Tender cream cheese pastry sandwiches a layer of thick dried fruit filling, then bakes into golden bars. These reduced-sugar cookies cut into 2 dozen squares for sharing.

Mocha meringue pie with a chocolate-pecan meringue crust standing in for pastry. Coffee ice cream fills the crisp shell and freezes solid, topped with whipped cream and chocolate curls. A pour of Kahlua over each slice finishes it.

Prebaked pie shell using a classic lard-and-butter pastry. Blind-baked with weights for a flaky, sturdy crust ready to hold cream pies, fruit fillings, or quiche.

Flaky sugar twists with a laminated yeast dough layered with vanilla sugar, sour cream, and butter. A pastry with crispy caramelized sugar layers baked golden in every fold.

The colors the fruits used in the cookies suggest those of the robes worn by the four ordres mendiants, monastic orders that originally lived on charity -- the Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans.

A slow cooker Parmesan cream sauce loaded with chicken, ham, and mushrooms, spooned into flaky pastry shells. Set it and forget it for an effortless dinner that feels fancy.

Almond raspberry tassies are bite-size tarts with a cream cheese pastry shell, a hidden dot of raspberry jam, and a frangipane-style almond filling. Tea cookies that look fancy but mix in one bowl.

Old-fashioned stovetop apple dessert with layers of pastry squares and spiced apples cooked in a kettle. This vintage pot pie simmers until tender, then gets served with cream.

Classic French apple dumplings wrapped in lemon-scented pastry, filled with a cognac-butter stuffing and baked golden. Serve warm with whipped cream or a pour of Marsala wine.

Traditional Ukrainian walnut filling for stuffed pastries, kolaches, and rolls. Light butter-and-sugar base whipped with egg whites and bound with grated walnuts and a splash of cream.

Dessert pizza with a baked pastry crust, creamy walnut-studded cream cheese filling, and tart cherry pie filling on top. A fun twist on cheesecake that feeds a crowd.