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Maple Cream Custards
Heat a pint of milk to scalding. Stir two tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar into the unbeaten whites of three eggs, stirring, not beating, and pour the hot milk upon it. Wet the inside of custard cups with cold water; fill them with the mixture, set the cups in a pan of hot water; cover them closely and bake in a moderate oven until the custards are firm. When cold turn out on a flat dish, cover with whipped cream and strew all thickly with grated maple sugar.
A white custard set with egg whites only, unmolded and dressed with cream and maple. The technique is straightforward; the two things that decide whether it works are gentle mixing and a low, patient oven.
- Stir, never beatWhisking the whites incorporates air, which expands in the oven and leaves the custard pocked and weepy. Stir the sugar in with a spoon until it dissolves, then add the milk in a thin stream so the whites do not set into strands.
- Moderate ovenRead this as 325-350F. Egg white sets at a lower temperature than yolk, so a hotter oven will curdle the edges before the centre firms.
- DonenessExpect 25-35 minutes for standard 5-6 oz cups. The custard is done when it barely trembles at the centre and a knife inserted an inch from the rim comes out clean; an instant-read thermometer should show 170-175F. Whites-only custards turn tough and rubbery quickly once past that point.
- The water bathSet the cups in a pan of water already hot from the kettle, coming halfway up the sides. The original directs that the cups themselves be covered closely; a lid or foil over the whole pan does the same job. That prevents a skin forming and keeps the tops flat, which matters if they are to be turned out.
- Why wet the cupsRinsing the cups in cold water rather than buttering them leaves a film that helps the custard release without greasing the surface. Chill them thoroughly, several hours or overnight, before turning out; a warm custard will slump.
- MeasuresA pint is 2 cups of milk. Whole milk is what is meant here, and it matters: skim milk gives a thin, watery set with no yolk fat to carry it.
- Grated maple sugarNineteenth-century maple sugar came as hard cakes that were grated like nutmeg. Modern granulated maple sugar can be used straight; otherwise shave a block of maple candy on a box grater. Do not substitute syrup, which will simply soak into the cream.
- YieldFour small custards, or three generous ones. Scale by threes of egg whites to each pint of milk.
This belongs to the large family of white or "snow" custards that appeared in American cookbooks, their rise often attributed to cooks having whites left over once egg yolks were spent on cakes, mayonnaise and boiled dressings. Maple sugar gives the dish its regional stamp: in New England, upstate New York and the Canadian border country, hard cakes of maple sugar were a pantry staple long before maple syrup became the dominant commercial form, and grating one over cream was the cheap luxury of a sugaring-season household. The whites-only custard turns out a clean ivory white that a yolk custard cannot match.