Custard recipe

Recipes

Henry Dimbleby
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This custard method is a great tip that I got from our friend Claire Ptak of Violet Cakes. By using more cream and, critically, heating the sugar with the cream rather than adding it to the egg yolks, you eliminate the nervous stage of heating the custard over the stove and waiting for it to thicken, or, more often than not in my case, scramble! I never used to make custard but I make it all the time now.

Ingredients

5 Egg yolks
1 Vanilla pod
500 ml Double cream
100 ml Milk
180 g Caster sugar
1 Pinch sea salt

5 Egg yolks
1 Vanilla pod
17.6 fl oz Double cream
3.5 fl oz Milk
6.3 oz Caster sugar
1 Pinch sea salt

5 Egg yolks
1 Vanilla pod
2.1 cups Double cream
0.4 cup Milk
6.3 oz Caster sugar
1 Pinch sea salt

Details

Cuisine: British
Recipe Type: Dessert
Difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 4

Step-by-step

Make sure the eggs are at room temperature.
Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and put it in a pan with the cream, milk and caster sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves. Take the pan off the heat and allow it to sit for 5 minutes
Meanwhile, put the egg yolks into a blender and blend for 2 minutes, or until they go creamy. Add a small pinch of sea salt.
Bring the cream back to the boil and pour it slowly on to the eggs, blending as you go. Assuming that the cream is good and hot and the eggs not too cold, the result should be great not-to-thick custard. (If you want to make it thicker you can pour it into a pan and heat gently on the hob, but you shouldn't need to).
Delicious served with my Upside-Down Pear and Cardamom Tart

Taken from Leon Book 2 by Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent

Published by Conran Octopus

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Henry Dimbleby's Upside-Down Pear and Cardamom Tart