Today I'll tell you how to make some fantastic homemade custards with vanilla flavor that don't taste like egg. Once you make them at home, they'll become one of your go-to recipes, since they have nothing to do with the ones bought in supermarkets.
To start, and as I always say, use quality ingredients, and in this case it's better if the eggs come from happy hens; they will give the custards a bit of color.
To avoid an eggy taste, the trick is to properly infuse the milk with the vanilla pod. You can also add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, but in that case it's very important that it's natural extract, otherwise an artificial vanilla flavor would ruin the result. The of Madagascar is a very good option.
I won't ramble on any longer—let's get to the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 liter of milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 100 g of sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 80 g of wheat starch (Maizena; depending on how thick you like it you can add more or less)
- Cinnamon for sprinkling
Preparation
- Heat the milk in the pot (not all of it, reserve a little) and add the vanilla pod split in half to infuse. If you want to ensure extra vanilla flavor you can add the teaspoon of extract. Leave over medium heat until the milk boils, then let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Then remove to let it cool a bit.
- In a bowl with the reserved milk dissolve the cornstarch; it must have no lumps (the ball-tip whisk will help you a lot).
- In another container mix the egg yolks with the sugar, and also add the cornstarch. Beat well with the help of some whisks.
- Add the milk to the previous mixture little by little. The milk should be warm or lumps will form, and the egg won't mix well or could curdle.
- Once it's well mixed, put it back on low heat until the mixture thickens, and don't stop stirring so the bottom doesn't burn.
- Pour the custards into a dish or, as I prefer, serve them individually in mini cocottes.
- Place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours and before serving you can decorate with cinnamon (its flavor pairs wonderfully with the custard), or you can decorate with cookies.
Emile Henry ceramic Soup Pot, Luigi Bormioli airtight jars and Le Creuset mini ceramic cocottes
I hope you like this simple way to prepare custard. The Emile Henry pot is a fabulous utensil for this type of preparation; it blends flavors and allows slow, moist cooking for any recipe.
Recipe author: Luisa from Cooking with my Carmela
