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Baked Custard
4 cups scalded milk 4 to 6 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt Few gratings nutmeg Beat eggs slightly, add sugar and salt, pour on slowly scalded milk; strain in buttered mould, set in pan of hot water. Sprinkle with nutmeg, and bake in slow oven until firm, which may be readily determined by running a silver knife through custard; if knife comes out clean, custard is done. During baking, care must be taken that water surrounding mould does not reach boiling-point, or custard will whey. Always bear in mind that eggs and milk in combination must be cooked at a low temperature. For cup custards allow four eggs to four cups milk; for large moulded custard, six eggs; if less eggs are used custard is liable to crack when turned on a serving dish.
A plain baked custard of the classic four-cups-milk proportion, with the egg count varying by whether you want cup custards or a moulded one you can unmould whole. The instructions are sound; only the oven language and a few vessel details need translating.
- Oven temperatureA slow oven here is 300-325F. Custard baked much hotter than that will curdle at the edges before the centre sets, no matter how carefully the water bath is managed.
- The hinge: the water must not boilThis is the whole technique. Start the bain-marie with hot, not boiling, water and check it partway through; if it begins to shiver and bubble, add a splash of cold water. Boiling water drives the custard past the setting point and it weeps, or wheys, as the text says.
- Scalded milkHeat to about 180F, when a rim of small bubbles forms at the edge of the pan and steam rises. Pour it into the eggs in a thin stream while whisking, or you will scramble them.
- Egg countFour eggs to four cups milk gives a soft custard that must be served in its cup. Six eggs gives a firmer set that will hold its shape when turned out. Eggs of the period were not graded as ours are, so modern large eggs are a reasonable stand-in, but expect some variation in firmness.
- StrainingDo not skip the strain. It catches chalazae and any bits of egg that have already set, and it is the difference between a smooth custard and a grainy one.
- Testing for donenessThe text calls for a silver knife; any thin blade works, inserted an inch or two off centre. Pull the custards when the very middle still trembles slightly; carryover heat finishes the set.
- Timing and yieldThe original gives no time. Individual cup custards take roughly 30-40 minutes, a single large mould 50-60. Four cups of milk with eggs and sugar makes about 6 to 8 servings.
- UnmouldingChill a moulded custard thoroughly before turning it out, and run a knife around the rim first. A warm custard will slump.