Custard

Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce (crème anglaise), to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla. Custard bases may also be used for quiches and other savoury foods. Sometimes flour, corn starch, or gelatin is added.
Custard is usually cooked in a double boiler (bain-marie) or microwave, or heated very gently in a saucepan on a stove, though custard can also be steamed, baked in the oven with or without a hot water bath, or even cooked in a pressure cooker. Custard preparation is a delicate operation, because a temperature increase of 5–10 °F (3-6 °C) leads to overcooking and curdling. Generally, a fully-cooked custard should not exceed 80 °C; it begins setting at 70 °C.^[1] A water bath slows heat transfer and makes it easier to remove the custard from the oven before it curdles.^[2]
Contents

• 1 History
• 2 Custard variations
• 3 Savoury custards
• 4 Uses
• 5 Physical properties
• 6 References

Recipes involving sweet custard are listed in the custard dessert category, and include:

Bavarian cream Bougatsa Clafoutis Cream pie Crème brûlée Crème caramel

Crema Catalana (Egg) Custard tart, also called egg custard. Egg tart English trifle Flan Fish fingers and custard

Floating island (dessert) Frozen custard Galaktoboureko Kremna rezina Pastel de nata Pumpkin pie

Taiyaki Vanilla slice Vla Zabaglione