ISO TNT custard dessert

[Greg Who Cooks]

I've recently become better friends with my neighbors, and she (the wife of course) expressed an interest in cooking custard, so I loaned her a set of 4 Pyrex custard dishes 6 oz each.

She doesn't have any particular custard recipe in mind, just said that her grandmother cooked a mean custard that was much better than anything you can get in a market or bakery. We agreed that almost anything you could think of you could cook better than a supermarket version, although restaurants are staffed by professional chefs so of course it would be difficult to cook better than in a good restaurant.

I've cooked custard many times but not recently, and IIRC I always followed a recipe from or similar to Joy of Cooking cookbook... But my copy is in storage and I don't feel like getting a copy at the public library since I figure I can probably get a better recipe on Discuss Cooking.

So let's discuss. ISO TNT custard recipe. Got any ideas?

 

[acerbicacid]

Hi, as I'm not in America, I don't really know what a custard dish is? I've googled but it didn't really help. To me custard is something you make to pour onto things like apple pies. Here in the U.K. it is usually made with egg yolks and milk/cream + vanilla, as in this recipe Traditional English Custard - Sweet - Recipes - from Delia Online
You can also buy a powdered custard where you only add milk.

I am really interested in this now

 

[giggler]

From Joy, and the way my Mom makes it..

oven 325f.

2cp milk
1/4 to 1/2 cp sugar
pinch of salt
3 whole eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

blend well then pour into molds

top with nutmeg or cinamon

bake in water bath 1 hr. ( that seems long to me) bake 'till set I say 45 min. or they crack..

top with sauce if you like.. usually caramel or fruit.

good old Joy Book.. I forgot there are like 10 pages of Custard Recipes in here!

Eric, Austin Tx.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

AA, the recipe in the link looks good and is along the lines of what I recall about my making custard (25 years ago?) but do you think vanilla extract could be substituted for the vanilla bean? If so how much?

Giggler, I recall you need to heat the mixture in a pan on the stove before you pour it into the dishes. Then bake using a water bath as you described. I'm sure the water bath keeps all but the top surface below 212F.

And yeah, caramel or fruit over sounds good! Or maybe chocolate for a nice contrast...

My neighbor describes herself as beginner but the recipes she describes as her cooking sound more intermediate level to me. But let's keep her custard recipe simple just in case.

 

[acerbicacid]

Hi GWC, I often sub vanilla extract for the vanilla pod (I usually save the pods for recipes where you scrape the seeds out, I then put the pod in some caster sugar - I think you would call it superfine? = lovely to have vanilla sugar to hand ) I usually sub ½ teaspoon of extract for 1 vanilla pod. Other people might use more though.

I love the custard that the Spanish call "flan". Easy Flan Recipes - Spanish Flan Recipes - Spanish Vanilla Custard with Caramel Sauce Recipe
Every time I have it I remember wonderful times and holidays in Spain, so maybe I am biased

 

[taxlady]

Hi, as I'm not in America, I don't really know what a custard dish is? I've googled but it didn't really help. To me custard is something you make to pour onto things like apple pies. Here in the U.K. it is usually made with egg yolks and milk/cream + vanilla, as in this recipe Traditional English Custard - Sweet - Recipes - from Delia Online
You can also buy a powdered custard where you only add milk.

I am really interested in this now

Thank you for the link. That's the recipe I've been looking for for my trifle. I usually use a cornstarch pudding, but this sounds more traditional and better.

 

[acerbicacid]

Oooh - trifle with custard. Reminds me of the high days and holidays of my childhood. My mother had a wonderful crystal trifle bowl on little legs that she used when it was a special occasion and the trifle looked really beautiful in it. I can taste it now

 

[taxlady]

I make two trifles, once a year. I make them at the same time. I make one for my Solstice supper and one for me and Stirling. I bake a sponge cake for the cake part and usually use frozen raspberries (frozen are fresher than the fresh ones you can buy - they freeze them at the farm within a short time of picking. The "fresh" ones are at least many hours old and usually a few days. Raspberries lose flavour in a very few hours.). This year I bought a few pounds of organic strawberries, which I will thaw for trifle making at Solstice.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Giggler's is a baked custard. no stove heating needed. It is not useful, however using in other recipes...for that you want the custard that Acerbicacid suggested.

IOW if you are just eating custard Giggler's is the way to go, if you want the custard for filling for cakes, doughnuts, trifles, etc. Acerbicacid has the right of it.

 

[Andy M.]

Cremé Brulee is a custard. Just sayin'

 

[CraigC]

There are many tasty recipes for flan.