Comforting Custard
My dad loves custard. It reminds him of his mom, my grandma. These well-worn custard cups were her’s. I love that they have so much character- some are cracked, and they are not a matching set. Everything about the mismatched vessels states, “I have withstood the test of time.”
Now what is in these little goodie containers is airy, only a hint of sweetness, comforting and actually high in protein. The majority of the recipe calls for eggs and milk. Scalded milk. When you heat milk to the point of just below boiling and the milk develops a thin, wrinkly skim coat. You can’t be distracted when heating the milk, a boiled over milky mess is the result.
The only thing that could make this custard better would be a fresh grating of nutmeg atop the baked creamy dessert.
It’s a quick recipe. The most difficult part is waiting the 45 minutes for it to bake in a water bath. Well, that and not multitasking during the milk scalding process.
Recipe courtsey of Betty Crocker's Cookbook
Best Baked Custard Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1/cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Dash salt
- 2 1/2 cups milk, scalded
- Ground nutmeg, if desired
Preparation
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1Heat oven to 350°F. Heat milk to scalding temperature-180 degrees F. Remove from burner and let sit while assembling other ingredients. In medium bowl, stir together eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Gradually stir in milk, using a tempering method. Add a small amount of milk to the egg mixture, whisking to bring egg mixture up to temperature, then add additional milk in small batches.
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2In 13×9-inch pan, place 6 (6-oz) custard cups. Pour mixture evenly into cups; sprinkle with nutmeg. Carefully place pan with cups in oven. Pour enough very hot water into pan, being careful not to splash water into cups, until water is within 1/2 inch of tops of cups.
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3Bake 45 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out almost clean (a small amount of custard will cling to knife). Using tongs or grasping tops of ramekins with pot holder, carefully transfer cups to cooling rack. Cool 30 minutes.
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4Cover tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled.
