Almond cream (Crème d’amande)

This simple almond cream recipe is made with just 5 base ingredients – almond flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and salt. It’s so easy to customize and use in a variety of French pastry recipes!

What is almond cream?

Almond cream is a classic French recipe made with almond flour, sugar, butter, and eggs in a 1-1-1-1 ratio. It’s the base and filling for many classic French pastry recipes, and shows up in anything from almond croissants to tarts to cakes.

It’s one of the first things I learned in pastry school in France, if you’re interested in French pastry it’s a definitely a recipe to master!

How to make almond cream

Making almond cream is very easy! It’s a 1-1-1-1 ratio by weight, so you don’t even really need a recipe once you’ve made it a few times. Here are my simple steps to making almond cream:

1. Bring all your butter and eggs to room temperature. This is very important to make sure the ingredients combine smoothly
2. Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or a spatula, beat the butter until softened and spreads evenly. Do not beat for too long or on a very high speed, because you don’t want to introduce too much air into the butter.
3. Add the sugar to the butter and cream until well combine. Similar to step 2, go on low speed and don’t cream for too long
4. Add the almond flour and mix until well combined
5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each inclusion
6. Add any optional flavorings, such as rum, vanilla extract, or a pinch of salt. If I’m using the almond cream as a pastry filling, I will also add a bit of corn starch to thicken the cream so it doesn’t leak during baking

Tips for perfectly smooth almond cream

Almond cream is very hard to mess up, but the number 1 mistake I see is curdling. This happens when your ingredients are not properly homogenized. Here are my tips to avoid this:

1. Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature. This is the most important thing!
2. Mix on slow speed
3. Add your eggs one at a time, and mix well between each addition

Almond cream vs frangipane

Almond cream, or crème d’amande, is NOT frangipane. Frangipane is almond cream combined with pastry cream.

As a result, almond cream is a little thicker and nuttier.

Ways to use almond cream

I love using almond cream as a filling in pastries, breads, and tarts.

1. Frangipane – mix almond cream with pastry cream to make frangipane, another popular filling for French pastires
2. Almond croissants – I like to fill my croissants with plain almond cream. Or, you fill with frangipane.
3. Tarts – I love using almond cream as a base filling for tarts, and then adding fruits such as peaches, apples, or pears.
4. Bread – Almond cream is a great addition to sweet breads, such as brioche. This cardamom bread with almond cream is a delicious example.

How to customize almond cream

The base almond cream recipe is very easy to customize to create different flavors, or for different use cases.

1. Swap out all or part of the almond flour for another ground nut – I love to use this method to create hazelnut cream, pistachio cream, and sesame cream. I like to keep half the almond flour to help with texture, but you can play around with the ratios to get your desired flavor and texture. This pistachio lemon tart uses a pistachio version of the cream to make a delicious summery dessert.
2. Add extracts, alcohol, or citrus zest – Almond cream often contains a little bit of rum to help balance out the sweetness. I also like to use vanilla extract, orange blossom extract, amaretto, or orange zest for different flavors.
3. Add some starch – adding starch such as corn starch or all purpose flour will help thicken the almond cream. I like to do this if I’m using it as a filling, so it doesn’t leak during baking.

How to store almond cream

One of my favorite things about almond cream is that it freezes very well. So you can easily make a large batch and save for later. Make sure to store in an airtight freezer bag in order to avoid freezer burn.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! I always love to see what my readers are baking. You can comment below or tag me on Instagram @halicopteraway.