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Baked Custard
1 qt. milk 1/2 cup sugar 6 eggs 1/8 teaspoon salt Mix sugar, eggs and salt; add milk and strain into buttered moulds or cups. Set in a deep pan, filled two-thirds of the way to the top of the mould with water. Bake in a moderate oven; when a knife blade cut into the custard comes out clean, the custard is done.
A plain baked custard in the old proportion of six eggs to a quart of milk. The recipe assumes you know what a water bath is for; everything that can go wrong here is a matter of heat.
- Oven temperatureA "moderate oven" is generally taken to mean about 350F. For custard, 325F is safer and gives a smoother set with less risk of the edges curdling before the centre firms.
- TimingNo time is given. Individual cups take 30 to 40 minutes; a single large mould can run to an hour. Start checking at 30 minutes.
- The doneness testA knife that comes out perfectly clean at the centre means the custard is slightly past its best. Pull it when the outer inch is set and the middle still trembles, or when the centre reads 170-175F; it finishes setting off the heat.
- The water bathFilling the pan two-thirds up the moulds is the whole point of the method, and the water should be hot when it goes in. Do not let it boil, or the custard will puff and weep. A folded towel in the bottom of the pan keeps the cups from rattling and moderates the heat further.
- StrainingThe instruction to strain is not optional. It catches the chalazae and any stray bits of egg, and it is the difference between a silky custard and a grainy one.
- FlavouringThe original is unflavoured. A teaspoon of vanilla, or grated nutmeg over the tops before baking, is a common addition.
- MilkWhole milk is what is meant. Skim or low-fat milk will set but tastes thin; replacing a cup of the milk with cream gives a richer custard.
- YieldA quart of milk plus six eggs fills eight 6-ounce cups. Serve chilled or barely warm, never hot from the oven.
Baked custard is one of the oldest surviving European sweets, descended from the medieval custard tarts whose name is generally traced to Anglo-Norman crustade, a crust — the filling eventually outlived the pastry and kept the name. Custard was cheap in ingredients, gentle enough to be fed to the sick, and dependent on the one skill the cook books were forever trying to teach: judging the heat of an oven with no thermometer in it.