Food & Wine
Little custard pot
These creamy baked custards, delicately flavoured with vanilla and accompanied by a fresh cherry compote, are easy to make and sure to be popular with all ages. Take care not to overcook the custards – they should be just set when you take them out of the oven.
Serves: 6
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: About 1 hour
Ingredients
- 600ml low-fat milk
- ½ vanilla pod, split
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon cornflour
- Cherry compote
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar
- 500g fresh cherries, stoned
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot
Preparation
- Place the milk and vanilla pod in a saucepan and heat until almost boiling.
- Remove from the heat, cover and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C.
- Put the whole eggs, egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour into a bowl and lightly whisk together.
- Bring the milk back to boiling point, then remove the vanilla pod and pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, whisking all the time.
- Strain the mixture into a jug, then divide among 6 lightly buttered ½ cup (125ml) ramekin dishes.
- Set the ramekins in a roasting tin and pour enough hot water into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until lightly set – the custards should still be slightly wobbly, as they will continue cooking for a few minutes after being removed from the oven.
- Lift them out of the tin of hot water and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Once cold, chill until ready to serve.
- For the cherry compote, put the raw sugar and 90ml water in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
- Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and add the cherries.
- Cover and simmer gently for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.
- Lift out the cherries with a draining spoon and put them into a serving bowl.
- Mix the arrowroot with 1 tablespoon cold water.
- Stir into the cherry juices in the saucepan and simmer for 1 minute, stirring, until thickened and clear.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes, then pour over the cherries.
- Spoon a little of the cherry compote over the top of each custard pot and serve the rest of the compote in a bowl.
This recipe first appeared in Reader’s Digest. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, here’s our best subscription offer.