Custard

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For the type of eggless "custard" based on cornflour (cornstarch), and popular in Britain, see Bird's Custard. For the Australian band Custard, see Custard (band).

Custard is a range of preparations based on milk and eggs, thickened with heat. Most commonly, it refers to a dessert or dessert sauce, but custard bases are also used for quiches and other savoury foods.

As a dessert, it is made from a combination of milk or cream, egg yolks, sugar, and flavourings such as vanilla. Sometimes flour, corn starch, or gelatin are also added. In French cookery, custard—confusingly called just crème anglaise—is never thickened in this way: when starch is added, it is pastry cream crème pâtissière; when gelatin is added, it is crème anglaise collée.

Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce (crème anglaise), to a thick blancmange like that used for vanilla slice or the pastry cream used to fill éclairs.

Custard is usually cooked in a double boiler (bain-marie) or heated very gently on the stove in a saucepan, though custard can also be steamed, baked in the oven with or without a hot water bath, or even cooked in a pressure cooker. The trick to getting custard instead of sweetened eggs is to add heated milk to the eggs, not to add eggs directly into the pan on the stove as many Internet recipes suggest.

Custard is an important part of dessert recipes from many countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy (where it's aptly called 'English Cream'), and Australia.

Instant and ready-made 'custards' are also marketed, though they are not true custards if they are not thickened with egg. See Bird's Custard, for instance. In the United Kingdom, school custard is a common name for the 'custard' (usually made from cornflour) served for pudding at schools. Its poor quality and thick consistency are often the source of jokes.

[edit] Savoury custards

Not all custards are sweet. A Quiche is a savoury custard tart. Some kinds of timbale or vegetable loaf are made of a custard base mixed with chopped savoury ingredients. Custard royale is a thick custard cut into decorative shapes and used to garnish soup or broth. Chawanmushi is a Japanese savory custard, cooked and served in a small bowl and served on a saucer.