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Coffee Custard
Mix thoroughly a cupful of strong, clear coffee, with four times the quantity of boiling milk, three table-spoonfuls of finely-sifted sugar, and a good pinch of salt; mix in very gradually the yolks of five eggs, well beaten. Stir the custard over a moderate fire until it thickens, pour it into cups, and serve cold. Sufficient for six persons. Probable cost, 1s. for this quantity.
A stirred custard sauce flavoured with coffee, set in cups rather than baked. The whole thing hinges on heat control: five yolks in five cups of liquid is a thin custard, and it will curdle before it looks thick.
- The measurements in modern termsA cupful of strong coffee is about 8 fl oz, so "four times the quantity" of milk is about 32 fl oz, roughly 900-950 ml (a US quart; somewhat less than an imperial quart). Three tablespoons of sifted sugar is roughly 40 g; the result is only lightly sweet by current taste.
- "Strong, clear coffee"Clear means free of grounds, not weak. Brew at roughly double normal strength and strain through a paper filter or fine cloth, since any sediment will settle as grit in the bottom of the cups.
- Temper the eggs, do not shock themThe instruction to "mix in very gradually" is the safeguard. Whisk a ladleful of the hot coffee-milk into the beaten yolks first, then return the lot to the pan, or the yolks will scramble on contact.
- "A moderate fire" means gentleA stirred custard sets at 175-180F (80-82C) and curdles not far above that. Direct low heat with constant stirring works if you are attentive; a bowl over barely simmering water is more forgiving and costs only a few extra minutes.
- Knowing when it has thickenedWith this proportion of yolk to liquid it will never be thick like a pastry cream. Stop when it coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a clean line.
- Strain before pottingPour through a fine sieve into the cups. It catches the chalazae and any threads of set egg, and gives the smooth surface the recipe assumes.
- Serving and yieldSix small cups, as stated, closer to a pot de creme portion than a dessert bowl. Chill at least three hours, covered, and eat within two days.
This is a textbook stirred custard with one variation: part of the milk replaced by coffee. The English custard tradition includes both the baked or steamed kind, thickened in a mould, and the poured kind stirred in a pan, and this belongs firmly to the second. Coffee as a dessert flavouring appears increasingly in British and French kitchens through the nineteenth century, and the same idea underlies the French creme au cafe and later coffee ice creams. The costing, one shilling for six, is typical of Cassell's, which priced almost every recipe so a household could judge a dish against its weekly budget before committing five egg yolks to it.