#12 - Brandy Custard
The most festive of all the custards
Hello!
I thought I’d send you all my final recipe of 2022 a few days early. I don’t know about you, but when it hits 23rd December it’s officially my time to switch off and enjoy the Christmas break to the fullest extent. I will be making the most of being at home after a missed (Covid-ridden) Christmas last year, and I can’t wait.
But before I do, I wanted to leave you with a little recipe, should you wish to try something new for the festive season. This is custard at its finest, a sort of middle ground between custard and brandy butter, and makes the perfect addition to Christmas pudding. If you’re nervous about trying something new for the big day, I’d recommend giving this a go on Boxing Day. The day after Christmas comes with a lot less pressure, and less pressure means things are less likely to go wrong. Plus the fact, leftovers always taste much better anyway.
Crème Anglaise
If you aren’t familiar with the term crème anglaise, think of it as the pouring partner of crème pâtissière. Just like the thick, gelatinous custard we learned to make a few weeks ago, crème anglaise is a staple in the pastry world.
In the UK, we tend to think of custard as being thick, gloopy yellow stuff for your crumble. But traditionally, a crème anglaise is lighter and more pourable - if you go for dessert in France, you’ll fid it’s more like a pouring sauce. The joy of making crème anglaise, besides the satisfaction of making your own custard, is that you can play with the recipe to make it as thick or pourable as you like.
The basics of custard
A few weeks ago, I introduced you to the world of crème pâtissière. We covered the essentials, as well as making it using whole eggs. It’s worth having a look over these two weeks, as the basics of crème anglaise are very similar.
The process and ingredients are more or less the same, but there are two key differences: no starch for thickening, and stirring rather than whisking.
Key ingredients:
Egg yolks: just like in crème pat, egg yolks are the key thickening ingredient in your custard. However, we don’t use a starch to aid with the thickening or stabilising, because we want the end product to be pourable. Instead, we stir very carefully whilst heating our custard, waiting for the egg yolks to coagulate, or set, at 82°C.
Sugar: just like with crème pat, for flavour!
Milk/cream: the liquid part of your custard. Recipes vary as to whether they use cream or milk, and how much. Cream has a much higher fat content than milk - double cream is 48% fat, whilst whole milk is around 3.7%. The higher the fat content, the richer your custard will be.
As a side note, I find that the higher the fat content, the trickier it can be to reheat, as it is more likely to split. So, I tend to use all whole milk for a basic custard, and at least part milk in a richer custard.
The method: just like when making crème pat, we heat the liquids with the sugar (and any other flavourings) and pour this in thirds over our egg yolks. This process is known as ‘tempering’, whereby we are gradually increasing the temperature of the yolks. We then heat this mixture and stir consistently until thickened. Unlike with crème pâtissière, we don’t have the security of a starch to prevent it from splitting. Therefore, it’s really important that we don’t heat the custard too hard too fast. It needs to cook gently over a medium heat, until the egg yolks can coagulate at 82°C. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to continuously stir the custard - the more you stir, the silkier your final custard will be. However, don’t whisk - we don’t want big air bubbles!
Of course, this is all made significantly easier by using a thermometer, and if you have one, great - use it! However, it’s not the be all and end all. I first learned to make custard without a thermometer, and I think this can be really helpful. Technology has been known to fail us, and it’s good to know what you are looking for rather than relying too heavily on your thermometer.
The easiest way to know when your custard is ready is to do the spoon test. Dip a spoon or spatula into the custard and take it out. Use your finger to draw a line down the middle. If the custard runs back into the line you’ve just drawn, keep going. If the line stays clean and defined, it’s ready!
A note about the recipe
As I mentioned earlier, we can play with the quantities of things to make the sort of custard we want. There are the obvious things to play with, such as quantities of sugar and additional flavours (in this case, brandy). This is an incredibly boozy custard, so if you aren’t after booze this Christmas, you can leave this part out. Alternatively you can simply use less if you’d like just a hint.
However, we can also adapt the quantity of egg yolks to adjust how thick the final custard will be. In this recipe, I use 8 egg yolks which makes for a really thick, rich custard (remember, yolks add fat and, therefore, richness too). The addition of cream also makes the custard even richer. This is a luxury custard fit for your Christmas table, so it seemed fair to go all out.
However, if you’d prefer something a little lighter, you can make this with entirely whole milk, or even reduce the number of egg yolks you use. Your final product will be lighter and more pourable, but still delicious.
If you want to go all out with this and go for the full recipe, don’t waste your egg whites. Freeze them! They keep for a good few months frozen, and there are a load of excellent ways to use them up. I’ll be sharing some of those with you in 2023, when we all have a little more time to be experimenting in the kitchen.
Brandy Custard
This recipe makes enough for four very generous servings.
Ingredients
8 egg yolks (save your whites by freezing them!)
100g caster sugar
150g whole milk
350g double cream
a generous grating of nutmeg
100ml brandy (or alcohol of your choice, OPTIONAL)
Method
Begin by whisking the egg yolks lightly in a mixing bowl to break them up.
In a medium saucepan, heat the caster sugar, milk, cream and nutmeg until steaming.
Pour a third of the steaming milk mix over the egg yolks and whisk, then another third and whisk.
Pour the yolk mix back into the pan with the remaining milk mix and put on a medium heat, stirring consistently.
Continue stirring well, getting into the corners of the pan where it will be hottest. It will be very liquid for some time, but will thicken all of a sudden, so don’t be tempted to ramp up the heat. Keep stirring as it thickens until it nicely coats your spatula or spoon like a thick custard. If you have a thermometer, take it to 82 degrees.
As soon as you are happy with the consistency, remove from the heat and stir in your alcohol.
Troubleshooting:
Custard taking too long to thicken: It’s important not to have your custard on too high a temperature, however there is a happy medium to be had. If you find it is taking a while to do very much, it’s likely your heat is just a little too low. Increase the heat ever so slightly and keep stirring. And most importantly, be patient! The more you practice, the faster you’ll get.
Custard has white specks: This can happen if you haven’t quite separated your yolks from all the white. It happens to the best of us and is nothing to worry about. Just pass your custard through a sieve once finished.
Custard looks split: If you aren’t using a thermometer, it can be tricky at first to have an instinct for when your custard is ready. The more you make it, the easier it’ll be. However, if you have taken it a little too far and it’s looking split, simply give it a blitz with a hand blender to save it. I find this tends to result in a slightly thinner custard, but it’ll be equally as delicious.
You can serve this immediately, or make in advance and reheat. If you are planning to make in advance and reheat, I find that adding the alcohol on reheating can help reduce the likelihood of your custard splitting. Just be sure to keep it in the fridge until using, and reheat at a very gentle heat whilst stirring. It’ll keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.
And that’s it for 2022! I want to take this time to say thank you SO much for reading. Writing this newsletter every week is an absolute joy, and it wouldn't be possible without you. I never expected so many of you to sign up in the first place, let alone read it, and I am so very happy to have created such a lovely little community of pastry lovers.
I’ll be taking a few weeks off to enjoy my Christmas and birthday, as well as planning a lot of exciting things for the new year. Of course, this will include lots of recipes, tips and tricks for you all to do at home. But I’m also excited to say it will include some in person things too, including a couple of supperclubs! I’ll be sharing more very soon, but I hope very much to see some of you there.
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and I can’t wait to see you all in 2023.
Annabelle
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