Southern Boiled Custard
A thin pouring custard served cold in a cup, somewhere between eggnog and melted ice cream. Despite the name it must never boil, and the whole recipe comes down to holding the pan at the right temperature.
- Prep10 min
- Cook25 min
- Total4 h 20 min
- Serves8
AI-generated illustration
Contains:dairyegg
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the whole milk in a heavy saucepan over medium-low until it steams and small bubbles ring the edge, about 8 minutes, then take it off the heat.
- Whisk the eggs with the granulated sugar and salt in a bowl until pale and slightly thickened, then ladle in about two cups of the hot milk in a slow stream while whisking hard, which tempers the eggs instead of scrambling them.
- Pour the tempered mixture back into the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and scraping the corners, for 12 to 18 minutes.
- Pull the pan the moment the custard coats the back of the spoon thickly enough to hold a clear line drawn with a finger, at 170 to 175 degrees F (79 degrees C). That temperature is also what makes the eggs safe to drink, and a few degrees past it curdles them.
- Strain immediately through a fine sieve into a cold bowl, stir in the vanilla extract, and set the bowl in an ice bath, stirring until it cools to room temperature.
- Chill at least 4 hours and serve in cups with the ground nutmeg grated over the top.
Notes
- If it does curdle, blend it for 20 seconds and strain; the texture recovers surprisingly well.
- It thickens noticeably in the refrigerator, so it should look thinner than you want when it goes in.
