How to Cook Delicious Custard Desserts
Custard is the most traditional and most frequently served pudding sauce. To make proper egg-based custard does not require skill, just a little patience, but this will be well rewarded by the taste and texture of the finished sauce and its effect on the pudding, and the people eating it.
Use a heavy-based saucepan. I like to use one that has a non-stick coating. If using an ordinary saucepan, rinsing the pan with cold water before starting helps to prevent the milk or cream 'catching'.
The base of the pan must be completely flat for even cooking.
A vanilla pod can be re-used. Simply rinse and dry it after removing it from the milk or cream, then return the pod to its container.
When using a vanilla pod to flavour a custard, the strength of flavour is controlled by the length of time the pod is led in the milk or cream.
To ensure the heat is gentle beneath the custard as it cooks, a heat diffusing mat is useful. Some prole prefer to use a double saucepan or a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of hot, not boiling, water. If you use this method, check that the underside of the bowl is clear of the water.
When stirring the custard, make sure you move the spoon or spatula across the entire base of the pan and reach into the angle between the base and the sides.
car If the custard looks as if it is beginning to cook too quickly or unevenly, remove the pan from the heat straightaway and stir hard.
Custard can he made iii advance and reheated if this is clone in a heatproof basin placed over a saucepan of hot, not boiling, water. Stir the custard frequently while it is warming up. Custard thickens when it cools, so it may he necessary to add a little more milk or cream.
