Baked Custard

Unless you remember custard cups, part of this recipe is probably confusing.

Specifically, the sentence “if baked in one dish, add extra egg.” The presumption is that baked custard goes into custard cups, small ceramic or Pyrex bowls that are the size of a ramekin, but are flared so they’re narrower at the base than they are at the lip. You’re just presumed to know this; it’s a baked custard, and that’s how someone bakes a custard.

Another thing you’re presumed to know: to use a bain-marie, or water bath. Once filled with the raw custard, the cups or dish would be placed in a baking pan with sides, and hot (but not boiling) water would be filled in the baking pan to the level of the custard in the cups; this protects the custard from some of the heat. Then the pan would be slid into the hot oven. Without this, you won’t make custard, you’ll make a rubber substitute in the shape of your dish.

Finally, cooking time. There’s no way to give a cooking time because the thickness of the custard will determine the cooking time, and that will depend on the vessel you’re using to cook it. What you’re looking for is a custard that’s set on the edges but still liquid in the center, since carryover heat will set the rest of the custard.

From a box sold in Columbiaville, Michigan.

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