Custard, Again. Baked and with Eggs (intentionally)

Whew!  July was a busy month and I barely got to cook, much less cook for my blog.

My experience with eggless custards and the nifty book, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons,

ISBN-13:  978-1-4494-2313-1

made me want to try one of her egged custards.

Reference Custard #2

How would unbaked be different from baked?  Eggless from egged?  I had to try.  (Besides, the weather has been very hot and I have learned that custards are an excellent dessert:  cool, light, not too sweet, and excellent with berries.  Refreshing!)

My Redaction

1 quart whole milk

2 tablespoons sugar

6 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon brandy

1 tablespoon moscato wine (sweet)

1/2 tablespoon rose water

generous grating of nutmeg

I like the dramatic look of this picture.

All ingredients were mixed well.  The nutmeg tends to float on top; I don't know how to change that.

The custard mix was ladled into small glass and ceramic bowls.  Each one held about 4 ounces of the mix even if the bowl could have held more.  

The oven was preheated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

I placed the bowls in a deep pan, placed the pan on the oven rack, then poured hot water into the pan until the water level was close to even with the custard mix level.

Pre-water.  It is easier to move into the oven that way.

Post-baking

The custards were baked for 30 minutes.  That is when a knife blade dipped into the center of a custard came out clean.  Visually the custard was "jiggly" and a little puffy.

Dipping in the knife

The blade is clean

The pan was carefully removed (no hot water spills!) and set out to cool a little.  Then I used a spatula to lift the bowls from the water.  They went right into the refrigerator without any covering.

The Verdict

After chilling them for a few hours, I served the custard.  It was firm, smooth, and pleasant to look at.  The berries sat on top instead of sinking in (as they did for the unbaked custards).  

A spoonful shows how well the custard set up:  you can see an edge on it.

The texture was smooth, creamy, soft, delicate.  

The flavor was not at all what I expected.  I loved the custard taste and feel but I could not taste the brandy or the wine and only tasted a little of the nutmeg.  It mostly tasted like rosewater.  

I love rosewater but that was not the only flavor I wanted.  I also love the brandy and nutmeg flavor combination so I was disappointed.  I don't mind I didn't taste the wine and perhaps next time I would make it a little sweeter.  However I would use less rosewater and much more brandy and nutmeg!

Vanilla would be good, too.

There were enough bowls of custard that I tried it in different ways.  My favorite was for breakfast with some buttered, spiced crumbs on top along with a little fruit. 

This was a success.  I would just change the flavorings to suit my preferences.  Yum!