Magic Custard Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make custard thicker? ›

Using a Thickening Agent

For 1 cup (240 mL) of custard, use 2 tablespoons (17 g) of flour mixed with 4 tablespoons (59 mL) of cold water. Add the mixture into your custard ingredients as they cook on the stove. Use cornstarch as an alternative to flour. Cornstarch, like flour, requires cold water as a mixing agent.

"My mother's recipe--eat on its own or pour over canned peaches or guavas or, my fave, bread pudding. If you are really grossed out by the possibility of flecks of egg white in your custard, you can either pass it through a fine-mesh sieve or substitute four yolks for the two whole eggs."

Place pie plate in a large shallow baking dish, and fill with boiling water to come halfway up side of pie plate. Place in oven and bake until custard is set, about 1 hour.

In order for a successful gelling of a starch in the recipe, the enzyme has to be killed by cooking the custard almost to boiling (a little less than 212 degrees F). Otherwise the left-over enzymes digest all of the nice firm starch gel and your custard is nothing but liquid.

The custard is ready when you can draw a clean line through it on the back of a spoon, using your finger. Strain into a clean jug and serve hot or cold.

The custard will thicken though as it cools, so if you want a cold custard then please do look at the custard recipe in Nigella's Boozy British Trifle as this makes are relatively thick custard once it is chilled. For a thick, hot custard you need to add cornflour (cornstarch) as a thickener.

Add the milk in 1/2-cup increments to bring the temperature of the eggs up gradually while whisking. Tip: Whisking the eggs with sugar helps, too. Now you can add the tempered eggs to the hot milk without worrying that the eggs will curdle or scramble. Keep stirring over medium heat as the custard thickens.

But when you overcook a custard, suddenly the connection is very, very clear. A nasty eggy taste takes up residence and won't go away. That's likely the result of heat breaking down the protein components cysteine and methionine to release sulphur, says Crosby.

The most common mistake people make in baking a custard is not putting enough water in the hot-water bath. The water should come up to the level of the custard inside the cups. You must protect your custard from the heat.

Be careful not to overprocess or you can wind up with irreparably thin, watery custard. Don't use a blender or food processor; they incorporate too much air and will leave the mixture frothy, not creamy.

Is custard healthier than ice cream? ›

Brands vary, but vanilla ice-cream typically has about 10 per cent more calories than custard, as well as twice the saturated fat, less protein and half the calcium and potassium. However, ice-cream usually has less sugar and salt, too.

Custard is a decadent dessert made with eggs, milk, and sugar. Eggs are responsible for custard's thick and velvety texture, but some recipes (such as this one) call for thickeners such as cornstarch or arrowroot for extra richess.

However if the proteins are overcooked, either by using a temperature that is too high or just cooking for too long, then the proteins will come together so tightly that they will start to squeeze out water and this causes the weeping in an egg custard (or the scientific term for this is syneresis).

The first option is to mix two tablespoons of flour with four tablespoons of cold water for every cup of custard you've made. Mix the flour into the water well, then whisk it into your custard mixture as it cooks on the stove. You can follow the same steps with cornstarch instead of flour if you prefer as well.

You can achieve a thicker consistency in your custard by using egg yolks. They contain natural emulsifiers that help to bind and thicken the mixture.

When the milk is hot (but not bubbling) I pour it into the jug and whisk it up quickly. I then usually pour the whole lot back into the pan and heat gently til it thickens. Birds instructions on the tin will give you a pouring custard.

Cornstarch Stir in 1 tsp (3.25 g) of cornstarch with your frosting mixture and see if it becomes less runny overall. Always work in small increments, rather than adding too much at once. This can be a great way to thicken your frosting without making it sweeter in the process.