Charred Vanilla Bean Custard
A rich & creamy custard made with a charred vanilla bean for extra flavour! This sauce goes great with crumbles, tarts, pies & cakes.
Servings: 8 Portions
Equipment
- Frying Pan
- Medium Saucepan
- Mixing Bowl
- Sieve
- Digital Food Probe
Ingredients
Charred Vanilla
- ½ Vanilla Pod See Notes
Custard
- 500 g Whole Milk
- 250 g Double Cream
- 100 g Caster Sugar
- A Pinch Of Sea Salt
- 100 g Egg Yolks (6 Yolks)
- 2 tbsp Cornflour
Instructions
Charred Vanilla Bean
- Place a frying pan over a medium heat & leave to heat up for a minute or two.
- Add in your vanilla bean & cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until well charred & puffed up. Transfer to a plate & leave to cool down.
Custard
- Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod the place both the pod & seeds into a medium saucepan.
- Add the milk, cream, ½ the sugar & a good pinch of sea salt into the saucepan with the vanilla then place over a low heat & leave to get steaming hot, stirring occasionally.Don't let the milk boil!
- Whilst your milk is warming up, place the egg yolks, cornflour & the remaining sugar into a mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth then set aside.
- Once the milk is warm, gradually pour two thirds of it into the yolks, whisking constantly as you do so.This is called tempering the egg yolks.
- Pour the tempered yolks back into the pan of milk then set over a low heat. Cook, stirring constantly until the custard reaches 82°c/180°f.
- Pass the cooked custard into a jug, through a sieve then serve immediately.Alternatively, pass into a container, place a piece of baking parchment onto the surface of the custard then leave to cool. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a saucepan, over a low heat.
Notes
1. Cooking On An Aga - Char the vanilla pod using the boiling plate. Use the simmering plate to warm the milk & cook the custard.
2. Vanilla Pod - If you're vanilla pod is small, use a whole one. If large, use half of even a third. Vanilla pods tend to be expensive so a little goes a long way.
3. Cooking The Custard - Make sure to cook the custard gently, whilst stirring constantly, to avoid curdling the eggs.
4. Storage - If you're not serving the custard straight away, it can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
5. Reheating - To reheat the custard, warm it in a saucepan over a low heat. Alternatively, warm in the microwave in 20 second bursts.