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Exercise X

CUSTARDS.

A custard is a combination of milk and eggs, sweetened and flavored, then baked or steamed. Thudichum, in the Spirit of Cookery, implies that custards were originally invented as a cheap substitute for thick cream. Custards now have their own place in cookery, supplying important food elements that would not be supplied by even the best of cream. The word custard was once spelled custade, from the French crustade, a pie with a crust. It has now come to mean the filling of the custard pie rather than the crust of the pie.

Kinds of Custards.

Custards are either soft or stiff custards according to the way in which they are cooked and the proportion of egg to milk they contain. For soft custards two whole eggs or the yolks CUSTARDS of three are used with one pint of milk. For stiff custards, three whole eggs or five yolks are needed to thicken one pint of milk. Soft custards are cooked in the double boiler and stirred constantly while cooking. They are as thick as heavy cream when done. Stiff custards are baked in greased molds, surrounded by water or steamed until they are firm.

Composition.

As protein is the chief ingredient in all custards, they should be cooked below boiling temperature. The double boiler is used for soft custards and stiff custards are set into a pan of water to bake. Occasionally starchy foods, such as tapioca, sago, rice, etc., are combined with custards. In that case the starchy food should be cooked for some time before it is added to the egg mixture.

Tests for Custards.

A soft custard is done (1) when it coats the spoon, (2) when it feels thick as you stir it and (3) when the foam disappears from the top. A stiff custard is done when a knife dipped into the center of it will come out clean.

Hints in Making Custards. 1. Custards are always strained to remove the strings of tissue that hold the yolk of the egg in place. Soft custards are strained after cooking, stiff custards before cooking. 2. The milk should be scalded to be sure that it is sweet and to hasten the process of cooking. 3. In combining the egg and hot milk or whatever liquid is used in making the custard, always pour the hot milk onto the egg, stirring constantly. Do not pour the egg into the milk. If a thin stream of egg should be poured into the whole quantity of hot milk there would be enough heat in the milk to quickly harden the albumin in the egg and you would have a lumpy custard. If the milk is poured into the egg slowly, the egg will cool the milk enough so that they will combine to form a smooth custard. 4. If a custard is cooked too long or at too high a temperature it will curdle. Should this happen to a soft custard, set the upper part of the double boiler into cold water immediately and beat with the Dover egg beater until the custard seems smooth, then strain it. If a stiff custard should curdle there is no remedy. 5. Add flavoring extracts to soft custards after they are cold, otherwise the heat will cause the flavoring to evaporate. 6. Custards are usually served very cold.