Nothing beats the taste of some silken, creamy homemade custard topped with fresh fruits. Try this easy, 4 ingredient recipe to enjoy a delicious bowl of it whenever you want to
With the days getting warmer, we find ourselves reaching for chilled desserts more. And my creamy, velvety homemade vanilla custard is just perfect for the rising temperatures. This delicious, quick and easy custard recipe is that of my mother’s. She always makes it at home and never buys those sachets that we get in the stores. Now that I follow her recipe, I understand how easy it is to make fresh custard from scratch, that too with just four ingredients! Moreover with this recipe, you could make this delicious English dessert beforehand too. Since the custard keeps well for almost a week, in the fridge, you could make a big batch of it and keep relishing it. Similar to how maa serves custards, I too love it topped with a variety of fresh fruits. Strawberries, bananas, mangoes, and blueberries are some of my favorites.
However, this time I have served my homemade vanilla custard with a mixed berry compote, too. Since we were entertaining guests at home, I also decided to serve the dessert in cute jars just so it looked nicer. And let me tell you, this deliciousness was a complete hit! Not only were the aesthetics of my presentation appreciated, everyone loved the custard served with the compote. Now, whether you choose to add the berry compote or not, your vanilla custard is going to be a treat, that’s a promise. And should you like to try it, I have detailed the compote recipe in the recipe card below, for you.
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To keep in mind
While this homemade vanilla custard recipe is a very easy one, there is just about one point that you need to bear in mind. And that is, when adding warm milk to the egg yolk and sugar mixture, it is essential that the milk isn’t very hot. If you do that then the eggs will cook and spoil the custard making process. To give you a perspective, eggs cook at 60 degree centigrade. Therefore, when adding the milk, just make sure that that it is warm enough for you to be able to dip a finger in it without flinching.
Variations in your custard
While I have flavored my dessert with vanilla, you can play around with other options too. To make a chocolate flavored one, add raw cocoa powder to your milk, you could also make a coffee flavoured one like wise. Instead of vanilla essence you could also use almond essence and/or cinnamon and nutmeg powders. To make your custard toasty you could also add a dash of whiskey to it, as well. And as far as it’s toppings are concerned, fresh fruits are by far the most popular choice. But some other favorites are, mint leaves, chocolate chips, crushed brownies etc.
Planning to make it?
Are you planning to make this yummy English custard recipe soon? I think it’s a great idea and I’d love to hear from you. You could share your food pictures with me over on Instagram. Also, you could share you feedback and rate the recipe in the comments section, below.
Eat hearty!
Easy homemade vanilla custard (without custard powder)
Equipment
- Sauce pan
- Cling film
Ingredients
- 500 ml milk
- 4 large egg yolks at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla essence
- ½ cup sugar or to taste
For the berry compote (optional)
- 2 cup mixed berries* roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp sugar add more if the berries are tart
- 1 tsp lemon juice
For garnish
- 1 cup chopped fruits use any of choice
- few mint leaves
Instructions
To make the custard
- In a mixing bow, whisk the yolks with the sugar until creamy and light
- In the sauce pan, heat the milk over medium low flame with the vanilla essence. In 3-4 minutes, when the milk is warm, add 2-3 tablespoons of it to the yolk-sugar mixture and mix well**
- Next, gradually pour the milk and yolk mixture to the simmering milk in the sauce pan and keep whisking and cooking until lump free. Once the custard starts to thicken, remove from flame and empty it into a bowl
- Apply a cling film on the surface of the custard and let it cool to room temperature, thereafter, refrigerate for at least an hour or two (overnight is best)
To make the berry compote
- In a pan, add the chopped berries and sugar, cook over medium flame until pulpy and mashed. When the fruits are completely disintegrated, remove from flame and add the lemon juice, mix well. Let it cool to room temperature
To assemble the custard with the berry compote
- In jars or dessert bowls, add a tablespoon or two of the compote. Top it up with the chilled custard, almost all the way up. Garnish with fresh fruits and mint leaves and serve
Notes
- *I have used strawberries, raspberries and blueberries
- **Only add slightly warm milk to the yolk and sugar mixture, mix well and then pour it into the milk in the saucepan. Do not add hot milk to the yolk-sugar mixture otherwise the yolks will cook and spoil the custard making processÂ
- Instead of vanilla essence, you could also use almond essence or add some cinnamon/nutmeg powders also to flavor the custard
- Some other garnishing suggestions are crushed brownies, cookies, chocolate chips etc
- You can add any fruits for garnishing as per your choice. Some popular ones are bananas, mangoes, pomegranate pearls etcÂ
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
- tbsp - tablespoon
- ml - millilitres
- tsp - teaspoon
i liked this recipe because we do not have to bother about the availability of custard powder at home.Easy recipe and looks perfectly tasty
Yes maa – your recipes are always the best. Thank you x
hi hi, I have noticed that there is no corn starch added for yr custard recipe. will it thickened as quickly as without it?
Yes, once the yolks cook, they will thicken the custard