CORRECTION: The original recipe for the salted caramel pot de creme called for 1 tablespoon of salt, when it should have read 1 teaspoon. Please accept our apologies.
When done right, custards are a luxury of texture: silky and rich, either loose and light or firm enough to cut, a good spoonful can make you moan. Custards come rustic or refined, warm or cold, even savory or sweet, so knowing how to nail a basic baked custard means you hold the key to turning out dreamy dishes like fluffy quiche, wobbly bread pudding or a smooth, enchanting pot de crème (like the nifty brown butter salted caramel version below).
Custard is really just any liquid thickened with eggs; it’s the ratio of those two ingredients (plus heat) that dictates the texture of your custard, whether it’s a runny sauce or a stiff, stand-up flan. (If you dig numbers and science, check out Nathan Myhrvold’s Modernist Cuisine Kitchen Manual; it includes a chart that tells you exactly what texture you’ll end up with for every ratio and temperature.) There aren’t many tricks, but there are plenty of ways to mess them up, turning them rubbery or worse, cottage cheesy. But follow these steps and you’ll be luxuriating every time.
How To Bake Custard Like a Pro
1) Get set up
Custard recipes are very sensitive to time and temperature changes, and require a handful of different cooking vessels so I recommend you get everything ready-to-go and set up your mise en place, which means “putting in place” in French. Take the cream and eggs out of the fridge and allow them to temper while you setup. You don’t need any fancy equipment, but you’ll need this:
- One saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients comfortably
- One mixing bowl
- A whisk
- A fine sieve
- A roasting pan, casserole dish, or similar
- Foil
- Ramekins or similar
You’ll bake the custard in a water bath (I’ll explain why in step #4), so set your ramekins in the roasting pan. (I actually use a paella pan when baking custards because it’s lightweight and easy to maneuver in to and out of the oven.) If you’re nervous about having a steady hand while moving around a pan full of steaming hot water, lay a thin towel under the ramekins to prevent them from sliding around.
Fill a kettle with water and set it on the stove, ready to fire, and pre-heat your oven according to your recipe.
2) Heat the liquid and temper the eggs
Warm the liquid (usually milk or cream) in a saucepan over medium heat to a simmer, hot enough to dissolve the sugar you’re whisking in. (Once you learn to make a basic custard, this is also where you can add fresh herbs, spices, vanilla beans, liquor, even things like fruit and vegetable juice.)
Whisk together the eggs in a mixing bowl. To temper the eggs, gradually whisk in about ½ to 1 cup of the hot dairy into the eggs. This way, you’re gently warming the eggs so they will smoothly blend into the hot mixture without cooking and curdling. Then pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan and whisk well, but try not to go overboard and beat in too much air—there’s no room for bubbles in silky smooth custard. Heat the mixture over medium-low heat while stirring constantly until it is steaming—you want the mixture to be hot so the custards have a head start in the oven (otherwise they'll take forever to cook) but don't let it boil.
It’s time to turn the heat on the kettle of water you’ve got on the stove. Bring the water to a simmer.
3) Strain and fill
Straining the custard ensures it will be ultra-smooth—it takes out any bits of cooked egg that might have formed or any grainy bits of sugar. Pour the hot mixture through a fine sieve into a pitcher (to make filling the ramekins easy).
4) Bathe n’ bake
The key to custard’s delicate texture is cooking and solidifying the egg proteins slowly, trapping the liquid in a microscopic net. But the intense heat of the oven can overcook the outsides of the custard, turning them rubbery, before the inside sets. Enter the water bath: Since water can only get up to 212⁰ F, it acts as a diffuser and evens out the transfer of heat to the custard.
Open the oven door and set the empty ramekin-filled pan on the door. This will decrease the distance you have to move the water-filled pan. Pour the strained custard into each ramekin.
As soon as you've filled the ramekins, pour hot—not boiling—water around the ramekins into the pan. Pour enough water to go at least ¾ of the way up the ramekins. Cover the entire lot securely with foil (to prevent the custard from developing a skin) and move the pan from the oven door into the oven.
5) Jiggle and cool
Since no recipe can be exactly right for every oven, I like to start checking on my custards about ¾ of the way through the instructed baking time. The best way to test for doneness is to evaluate the jiggle; when you give the ramekin a gentle shake, the very center should wobble like Jell-o, but the outer edges should look like they’ve set. Keep in mind the custard will continue to thicken and stiffen as it cools.
When you think you’ve got the jiggle right, carefully remove the pan from the oven and set it one the stove. Remove the tin foil and let it cool at room temperature for about 10 minutes. If your fridge is large enough, pop the entire pan into your refrigerator to cool. Otherwise, carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath and cool them in the refrigerator.
Basic Baked Custard
This recipe is perfect for a baked custard newbie and a great canvas for adding sweet or savory flavorings.
Makes four 8-ounce ramekins
4 whole eggs (or 6 egg yolks)
3 cups cream or milk (or a mix)
½ cup sugar (reduce if making a savory version)
1 vanilla bean, scraped and added to the liquid when heating (can substitute 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, added after taking off heat)
A pinch salt
Prepare using the technique above and bake at 325˚F in a water bath for about 1 hour.
When should I use….
Whole Eggs vs. Egg Yolks?
Whole eggs have protein in the whites that will coagulate when heated, so whole eggs are great for custards that will be standing on their own like flan. Yolks are best for custards that have a really luscious, velvety texture like crème brulee or pot de crème.
Milk vs. Cream?
Cream will, of course, result in a richer, denser, more luxurious custard, but milk will ultimately behave similarly in terms of cooking technique, time and temperature. Therefore, you should use milk if you’re looking to cut calories and cream if you’re looking to make something decadent. If you use cream the custard will stiffen faster when cooling because it has more fat.
Savory stuff?
Outside of restaurant, you rarely see savory custard on the table, which is a shame since it’s an unusual and impressive delight. An easy way to turn a custard savory is to infuse the milk or cream with fresh herbs or spices. You can reduce the sugar content without affecting the ultimate texture or structure of the custard, but I always throw in at least a tablespoon for flavor. Basic vanilla custard infused with basil is fantastic alongside a roasted pork loin. Adding vegetable juice (my favorite is carrot) to the cream mixture is an easy way to make a light, sweet appetizer.
Brown Butter Salted Caramel Pot de Crème
If we’re having a romantic dinner at home, this is what I make for dessert. It’s a neat recipe because the brown butter and brown sugar give it a caramel-like flavor even though you’re not actually caramelizing sugar, which can be tricky.
Makes four 8-ounce ramekins
¾ stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon of sea salt
2 ½ cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
To garnish:
Sel gris or another crunchy salt
Greek yogurt or whipped cream
1) Preheat oven to 325˚F. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let it foam and cook just until you see signs that it is starting to brown. Immediately add the brown sugar and salt and whisk vigorously. The mixture will take a little while to come together, but keep whisking over low to medium heat until the sugar melts and the mixture is smooth and glossy (about 2-5 minutes, depending on the heat).
2) Remove from the heat and whisk in 1/3 of the cream to the caramel. It will bubble up, but continue to whisk until the bubbling subsides. Then add the rest of the cream making sure to whisk continuously and vigorously the entire time you’re adding the cream.
3) Heat the cream mixture until it starts to simmer, then temper the yolks into the cream mixture and prepare according to technique above.
4) Bake in a water bath for about 1 hour. When cooled, refrigerate until cold. To serve, top with a dollop of whipped cream or Greek yogurt (if you like a little tang) and sprinkling of crunchy salt.
More from Whitney Chen:
Don't sweat the technique for perfect biscuits
Everything you want to know about poaching eggs
Comments