Magic Custard Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my custard not thickening? ›

Keep an eye on the heat when cooking the custard - too low and it won't thicken, too high and you'll have scrambled eggs.

Using a Thickening Agent

For 1 cup (240 mL) of custard, use 2 tablespoons (17 g) of flour mixed with 4 tablespoons (59 mL) of cold water. Add the mixture into your custard ingredients as they cook on the stove. Use cornstarch as an alternative to flour. Cornstarch, like flour, requires cold water as a mixing agent.

Place pie plate in a large shallow baking dish, and fill with boiling water to come halfway up side of pie plate. Place in oven and bake until custard is set, about 1 hour.

Place plastic wrap directly onto the custard in the bowl to prevent a skin from forming and allow to cool in the fridge to thicken slightly, about 1 hour.

Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Stirring distributes the heat so the custard doesn't become too hot, which can curdle it. Draw a finger across the back of the spoon and if it leaves a trail, your custard is ready.

Shrinking and cracking: Overbaking will cause the egg proteins in the recipe to overcoagulate from too much heat which eventually shrink (and crack) when cooled. Thin crust forms: If refrigerating just cooked or baked custard, let it cool about 5 - 10 minutes and then cover it with plastic wrap.

However if the proteins are overcooked, either by using a temperature that is too high or just cooking for too long, then the proteins will come together so tightly that they will start to squeeze out water and this causes the weeping in an egg custard (or the scientific term for this is syneresis).

Heat the custard gently and stir in the cornflour mix little by little, it should thicken up as it comes to the boil and the extra cornflour should help stabilise it. Let it blip away for a minute or two to cook the cornflour. Gentle heat is the key.

Measure out 3/4 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin for every cup of milk or cream in your pudding. This will set it gently, without creating the characteristically rubbery texture associated with gelatin.

The knife test: Test for doneness with a thin-bladed knife. Insert knife about 1 inch from the center of a one-dish custard; midway between center and edge of cups. If knife is clean when pulled out, the custard is done. If any custard clings to the blade, bake a few minutes longer and test again.

Can you over mix custard? ›

Be careful not to overprocess or you can wind up with irreparably thin, watery custard. Don't use a blender or food processor; they incorporate too much air and will leave the mixture frothy, not creamy.

Here's how to avoid one of the worst kitchen mishaps: overcooking. Egg-based puddings and custards can curdle if cooked beyond 185 degrees. We take crème anglaise off the heat when the mixture registers 175 to 180, but when making the base for ice cream we push the temperature to 180 to 185 for maximum thickness.

The first option is to mix two tablespoons of flour with four tablespoons of cold water for every cup of custard you've made. Mix the flour into the water well, then whisk it into your custard mixture as it cooks on the stove. You can follow the same steps with cornstarch instead of flour if you prefer as well.

Custard is a decadent dessert made with eggs, milk, and sugar. Eggs are responsible for custard's thick and velvety texture, but some recipes (such as this one) call for thickeners such as cornstarch or arrowroot for extra richess.

The custard will thicken though as it cools, so if you want a cold custard then please do look at the custard recipe in Nigella's Boozy British Trifle as this makes are relatively thick custard once it is chilled. For a thick, hot custard you need to add cornflour (cornstarch) as a thickener.

One way to combat a custard that will not set is to reboil it. If you thought your custard was thickening up, and then refrigerated it to let it set, only to find that it had thinned out, simply pour the custard base back into a pot and cook it more (via Crafty Baking).

If you notice lumps beginning to form in a custard, immediately pour it out of the hot pot into a bowl and pulse it with a handheld blender in five-second intervals until it is nearly smooth. This can take from 15 to 45 seconds, depending on how big the lumps are.

If the custard gets too thick after chilling, loosen it with a little boiled and cooled milk. If needed, dissolve some sugar in the hot milk, allow it to cool down fully before adding it in.

But when you overcook a custard, suddenly the connection is very, very clear. A nasty eggy taste takes up residence and won't go away. That's likely the result of heat breaking down the protein components cysteine and methionine to release sulphur, says Crosby.