For vanilla pastry cream:
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In a saucepan, cook the milk and vanilla bean paste over medium-high heat until boiling.
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In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and the mixture forms a ribbon when you lift the whisk. Add the cornstarch and whisk well until combined.
Tip: Whisking the egg yolks and sugar together until smooth is called “blanching”. The sugar essentially protects the egg proteins, preventing lump formation and “curdling” during cooking.
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Pour the hot milk in a slow stream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return the mixture into the saucepan and cook over high heat with constant whisking until thickened, about 1-2 minutes.
Tip: This process is called “tempering” and prevents the egg yolks from scrambling – as they would if you added the egg yolk mixture all at once into the hot milk. By tempering, you gradually increase the temperature of the egg yolks while simultaneously diluting them, ensuring a silky-smooth pastry cream.
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Remove from heat and add in the butter. Whisk well until the butter has melted and is completely incorporated.
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Allow to cool completely, stirring or whisking occasionally to prevent skin formation on top. Set aside until needed.
For gluten free Danish pastry dough:
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In a small bowl, whisk together the psyllium husk and cold water. After about 20-30 seconds, a gel will form. Set aside until needed.
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In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer, if using), whisk together the potato starch, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, sugar, xanthan gum, salt and yeast.
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Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the cold milk, egg yolks and psyllium gel into it.
Tip: If using active dried yeast, see Note 2.
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Using a wooden spoon, mix well until the dough starts coming together. You can also use a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, making sure that you scrape down the sides of the bowl to remove any dry, un-mixed patches of flour.
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Once it starts coming together, knead it by hand until you get a homogeneous dough with no dry patches of un-mixed flour. Just squeeze the dough through your fingers, going around the bowl until you’ve incorporated all the flour. The final dough will be fairly firm and should come away from the sides of the bowl. (Again, you can also use a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook).
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Set aside for a few minutes while you prepare the butter block.
Tip: If your kitchen is very warm, you can place the dough into the fridge while you prepare the butter block.
