This is one for the purists - home made custard, without custard powder. Radical, I know. This was another Taste.com.au recipe, and it turned out pretty darn well for me. This time, I only made a 1/3 quantity of the recipe - because the whole quantity uses 6 egg yolks, and to be honest, I didn't want to waste that much if the recipe was going to be a total disaster. But disaster it was not! And so I'm sharing the wonders of home made custard with you.
(Remember - I made only 1/3 quantity of the full mixture.
I'm giving you the full recipe on here.)- 600ml (1 1/2 cups) of thin cream or whole milk. (I had neither of these, so went for 1 part thickened cream and 1 part skin milk. Worked fine.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (Depending on personal taste this is variable)
- 6 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoon of cornflour
First, bring the cream/milk and vanilla to just below simmering point over a low-medium heat.
Beat the yolks, sugar and cornflour together with a whisk or fork until combined.
the full quantity. I suggest a mixing bowl.)
Add the hot cream/milk/vanilla, stirring well with a whisk, and return the whole mixture to the pan.
Cook over a very low heat, whisking VIGOROUSLY (it's very easy to curdle the mixture, so thorough whisking the entire time is vital) until it thickens...
Like this. It might take a little while, so it's all about finding the balance between having the heat high enough for the custard to thicken, but not curdling the mixture. If the mixture does start to curdle, some wise words from my mum - "Generally, if something separates on the stove, take it off the heat and beat the bajeesus out of it. Should bring it back together." <3
And there you have it! Your own lovely warm vanilla custard! Bet you didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you? Enjoy!
Also - if you're not serving this immediately, store it in the fridge with a layer of baking paper over the surface of the custard - it'll stop it forming a skin. :)
