Put chicory coffee in a French press (alternately you can make the coffee milk in the pot and strain it through a coffee filter).

Using your fingers rub the vanilla beans into a 1/4 cup of the sugar.

Bring milk to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent scorching on the bottom.

Pour milk into the French press and let sit for 5-10 minutes, depending on how strong you like it. (if using a coffee filter remove milk from heat and just stir coffee directly into the milk.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and the other 1/4 cup of sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium until pale yellow and falls in light ribbons. Add flour and whisk to combine.

Press the milk and pour the resultant coffee milk back into the pot along with the 1/4 cup of vanilla sugar and bring to a bare simmer over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and prevent scorching.

With the mixer on low slowly pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Emphasis on slowly, you don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs.

Once all the milk is whisked into the yolk mixture, return all of it to the pot.

Bring to a low boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.

Cook, while whisking, for two minutes to thicken and cook out the raw flour.

Transfer to a bowl through a mesh sieve to strain out any bits that may have formed, pressing lightly. Once strained, press plastic wrap to the surface.

Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To pipe: fill a piping bag (or a sandwich bag with a tip cut off) with the pastry cream and use a wooden spoon to poke a hole in the beignet, creating a cavity. Insert the bag and pipe until it just comes out the end where you poked the hole, pulling the bag out slowly as you pipe to fill the length of the beignet.