In making custards it is of the utmost importance that they should not be allowed to boil. They are best made in a porcelain double-boiler or in a bain-marie .
Cooked white of egg may be added as a garnish to any custard. To prepare it, beat the whites to a stiff froth, and either put it on a sieve and steam it; or drop a tablespoonful at a time into boiling milk, removing it with a skimmer as soon as firm. Whipped cream or ratafias may also be used.
1 pint milk
3 or 4 yolks of eggs
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla
Beat the yolks in a good sized basin until light and creamy. Add the sugar and a very little salt. Scald the milk and pour it gradually over the yolks, stirring constantly whilst doing so. Pour the custard back into a double-boiler in the outer part of which is very hot water. Stir continually until the custard thickens. When it is thick enough it will coat the spoon. It must not boil or the custard will curdle. Strain at once into a jug. Add the flavouring when cool.
Melt three table-spoons of powdered sugar in a saucepan and stir it over a quick fire until it is a rich brown, being very careful that it does not burn. Pour this into a basin and beat it well with three or four yolks of eggs. Proceed as for plain custard (see above).
1 lb. chestnuts
4 eggs
4 ozs. powdered sugar
1 pint milk or cream
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon vanilla
Boil, peel and pound the chestnuts. Add the well beaten yolks, a little salt and the sugar. Beat well together. Add the milk or cream. Beat the whites to a stiff froth and add them gradually, stirring continually. When well mixed, pour into a double boiler and stir until the custard thickens. Add the vanilla when the custard is cool.
Add to one pint of milk three table-spoons of grated chocolate. Boil until the chocolate is melted. Proceed as for plain custard . When cold stir in a gill of rich cream. Serve very cold.
To a pint of plain custard add a coffee cup of strong, good coffee, and an extra table-spoon of powdered sugar. Omit the vanilla.
2 table-spoons tapioca
1 pint milk
2 eggs
¹⁄₃ cup powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon vanilla
Soak the tapioca for two hours in hot water in a double-boiler. Drain. Put back and add the milk. Cook until tender and clear. Carefully mix with the tapioca the two yolks beaten well, the sugar and a little salt. Cook until the custard thickens. Take off the fire and stir in the whites beaten to a stiff froth. When cool add the vanilla. Serve very cold.
The milk for baked custards should always be boiled.
It is of the greatest importance in baking custards to have a slow oven. It is a good thing to leave the oven door a little open for a short time.
It is best, although not necessary, to stand the dish of custard in another containing hot water. The water should simmer.
Custards can also be cooked by placing them in a large saucepan containing hot water, which should reach half-way up the mould or cups used. The water should be brought to a boil. Then the saucepan should be set back where it will simmer gently, and it should be covered. This method takes about an hour. It is best to let the custard stay in the water until it is cold.
6 yolks
2 whites
6 table-spoons powdered sugar
1 quart milk
Scald the milk. Beat the yolks and two whites together until light and creamy. Add the sugar to them and a little salt. Beat again. Pour the scalded milk over them slowly, stirring all the time. Strain into a buttered pudding-dish or into small cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake in a slow oven for forty minutes.
¹⁄₂ cup sugar
1 quart milk
8 yolks
2 whites
1 tea-spoon vanilla
Melt the sugar with a very little water in an iron saucepan. Stir it over a quick fire until it is a rich brown, being very careful that it does not burn. Beat the yolks and whites till light. Scald the milk. Add the sugar to it and pour slowly on the eggs, stirring continually. Add vanilla and a little salt. Strain into dish. Set the dish containing custard inside another vessel in which there is hot water and bake in a very slow oven for an hour. This custard is best the day after it is made. It should be set but creamy, and not as stiff as the ordinary plain, baked custard.
1 quart milk
6 yolks
1 cup powdered sugar
3 ozs. grated chocolate
1 tea-spoon vanilla
Add the chocolate to the milk and boil until it is thoroughly dissolved. Beat the yolks thoroughly. Add the sugar to them and beat again. Pour the boiling milk and chocolate over the yolks and sugar, stirring continually. Add the vanilla and strain into a pudding-dish. Bake in a very slow oven for forty-five minutes to an hour. Serve very cold.
¹⁄₂ lb. grated fresh cocoanut
¹⁄₄ lb. powdered sugar
1 table-spoon rose-water
Milk
¹⁄₂ pint cream
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon powdered cinnamon
2 yolks
4 whites
If there is not half a pint of cocoanut milk, add to it cold milk until there is that amount. Into this stir the sugar and rose-water. Stir in the cream and well-beaten yolks. Beat the whites to a very stiff froth, and add them alternately with the grated cocoanut and cinnamon. Bake in cups set in hot water in a moderate oven.
Make as for chocolate custard, flavouring with a coffee-cup of good strong coffee instead of chocolate, and adding another yolk.
1 pint cream
4 yolks
Scald the cream. Pour it slowly over the well-beaten yolks. Put the cream in a double-boiler and stir until it thickens, but do not let it boil. Pour into a shallow dish.
When it is cold sift powdered sugar thickly over it. Set in a very slow oven for quarter of an hour. Take it out. Brown the sugar with a salamander. Serve cold.
1³⁄₄ pints milk
6 yolks
3 whites
6 table-spoons powdered sugar
1 tea-spoon vanilla
Beat the yolks and whites together. Add the sugar. Beat again. Pour the scalded milk gently over the eggs, stirring continually. Add the vanilla and a little salt.
Melt a quarter of a pound of sugar in an iron sauce-pan; stir it over a quick fire until it is a rich brown. Plunge a mould into boiling water and drain it quickly. Pour part of the prepared sugar into it at once, coating the sides evenly with it. Strain the custard immediately into the mould. Cover with a plate and set in a pan of boiling water in a moderate oven. Bake until quite firm. This can be tested with a knife, which should come out clean if the custard is done. When the custard is cold, turn it carefully out of the mould and pour round it the rest of the syrup, with which a little hot water should have been mixed.
6 eggs
2 lemons
¹⁄₂ lb. powdered sugar
1 wine-glass brandy
1 stale sponge cake
1 pint milk or cream
2 ozs. butter
Into a basin put the yolks of the eggs. Beat them well. Add three whites, the rinds of the lemons grated fine and the juice of one lemon. Beat well again. Add the sugar, brandy, and sponge cake finely crushed. Beat all together thoroughly. Add the cream and the butter, previously softened, but not melted. Bake in small moulds in a quick oven for half-an-hour.