A highly under rated pudding. Yes it lacks wow factor but it is extremely comforting on a cold and wet weekend. Luckily I am over run with eggs on this ridiculously cold and wet May weekend.
This recipe was taken from the April 2005 edition of Waitrose Food Illustrated in a piece entitled Flossie’s Country Cooking and has been the only Baked Custard recipe I have used since. Such a simple recipe yet until April 2005 I found them tricky to cook so that the pale creamy custard stayed silky smooth and invariably ended up with tiny pockets of syrup where the mixture had bubbled in the oven. By using a bain marie (hot water bath) to cook the custard, the cooking is more controlled and I think produces the perfect custard. My only deviation from the original recipe was to add a little vanilla extract. It’s not very sweet so some may want to increase the amount of sugar slightly.
Serves 4-6 Ingredients 4 medium eggs 30g caster sugar 500ml full cream milk 1/2 tsp vanilla extract freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 170c or gas mark 3 and boil a full kettle. Put a shallow 1 litre capacity ovenproof dish or 6 x 125ml capacity individual pots or ramekins into a roasting tray.
Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract into a basin and whisk together until the egg is smooth. Heat the milk either in a pan or microwave it in a jug so that it is warm but not hot then pour over the egg and sugar mixture and stir well.
Strain the custard into the baking dish(s) and grate some nutmeg on top. Pour boiling water into the roasting tray until it comes halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes for one large custard or 20-30 mins for individual ones until the custard is just set but still has a bit of wobble. Serve warm.
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