Custard Glossary
All About Custard, The Eggy Splendor From The Middle Ages
Page 1 Terms & Definitions: A ~ B
Overview
Custard as we know it dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was used as a filling for a flan or a tart. The word custard is derived from “crustade,” a tart with a crust. After the 16th century, fruit creams became popular and it was about this time that custards began to be made in individual dishes or bowls rather than as fillings for a crust. Yet, as things move full circle, today custard is used to fill tarts, Danish pastry, flans, cream puffs and éclairs; it is mixed into trifles and otherwise part of other sweet and savory delights. Custards are prepared in two ways: stirred or cooked on top of the stove, or baked in the oven.
Types Of Custard: A Glossary Of Custard Terms
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Bain-Marie or Water Bath
A technique of baking custard and other delicate, egg-based dishes from cracking or  curdling in a hot oven, and to prevent sauces from curdling on the stove. The proteins in the eggs are very heat sensitive and need to be cooked slowly and gently. In this technique, the pie plate, custard cups or other baking container is placed inside a baking pan; simmering hot water is poured up to the level of the filling inside the mold to protect the custard from the heat.
Photo of bain-marie courtesy of American Egg Board.
Baked Custard
Custard, a mixture of cream and eggs, can be made in either sauce form or baked in a variety of forms, where it becomes thicken and set. Tarts, pies and quiches are examples. In its simplest form, a plain custard is baked in dish, ramekin or custard cup. More elaborated baked custards include crème caramel (flan) and crème brulée.
Bavarian Cream or Crème Bavarois
A mold of crème anglaise (a rich custard, see below), combined with gelatin, beaten egg whites, and lightly whipped cream. It can be flavored with vanilla, fruit purée, chocolate, liqueur et al., then put into a decorative mold, chilled and unmolded.
Bien Me Sabe or Puerto Rican Coconut Cream
Not a true custard, because it uses coconut milk instead of cow’s milk or cream. This popular pudding means “It tastes good to me” in Spanish. The grated meat and milk of a fresh coconut are cooked with egg yolks and sugar to a thick consistency, then flavored with vanilla or rum. It is popularly served over sponge cake.
Bird’s Custard
An artificially-flavored commercial custard powder, one of the numerous instant and commercial “custards” that are not true custards because they are not thickened with eggs but cornstarch. It was invented by Alfred Bird and Sons Ltd. of Birmingham, England, in 1837. Bird created it because his wife was allergic to eggs, the key ingredient used to thicken traditional custard. Some people prefer using powdered custard sauce because it is much easier to make and there is no concerned with the eggs curdling, the chief challenge of making a traditional custard.
Blancmange or Blanc Mange
Blancmange is not a custard but cornstarch pudding; it does not contain eggs, but uses cornstarch as the thickener. French for “white food,” it can be a white or pinkish molded pudding made from milk or almond milk and/or cream, sugar, gelatin or cornstarch and a flavoring, usually almond. The original blancmange used pulverized almonds instead of cornstarch. It can be made in butterscotch and chocolate pudding variations as well.
Boiled Custard
See crème anglaise.
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Nibble Tip
- One of our favorite complements to custard—whether a sauce or a baked custard—is nutmeg.
- When baking a vanilla or chocolate custard, grate some fresh nutmeg over the top.
- We like making a savory custard sauce by cooking a crème anglaise without the sugar and substituting nutmeg for vanilla.
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Nutmeg. |
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A delicious dish of crème caramel. Photo by Rafa Irusta | Dreamstime.