Almond Pastry Cream

In a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the almond paste with 1 cup of the half and half and all of the sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking to dissolve the sugar and the almond paste.

In a medium size mixing bowl combine the salt, cornstarch, egg yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup of the half and half and whisk well.

Remove the half and half from the heat and add some of the hot liquid to the egg yolk mixture, mix well. Add the egg mixture to the pan with the remaining half and half and bring to a brisk simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once the mixture thickens, immediately remove from the heat and whisk in the cold butter.

Press the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl. Discard any solids. Place a piece of plastic directly on top of the pastry cream and transfer to the refrigerator to cool.

The pastry cream can be used at room temperature or chilled.