Pastry Cream (eggless)

Total Time: 17 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 7 mins

Ingredients

• 1 quart whole milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 dash cinnamon (omit cinnamon if using citrus or other flavors)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Recipe

• 1 mix first 4 ingredients in a large pan until well blended and sugar is almost dissolved.
• 2 place pan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until it comes to the boil.
• 3 continue to simmer, stirring constantly while simmering, until very thick (about 5- 10 minutes).
• 4 remove from heat and add vanilla (or your choice of flavoring).
• 5 pour mixture into bowl and cover surface directly with waxed paper or plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming.
• 6 refrigerate several hours to overnight.
• 7 to use pastry cream to fill[recipe=40291]cannoli shells[/recipe]: chop 1 regular size hershey chocolate bar and add bits to cooled (pastry cream) mixture.
• 8 fill cannoli shells by piping mixture into shell using a pastry bag, or use a long-handled iced tea spoon.
• 9 dip ends of filled cannoli into toasted, sliced or crushed almonds or crushed pistachio nuts or finely minced chocolate bits.
• 10 sprinkle top of shells lightly with powdered sugar (recipe will fill about 16 shells depending on their size).