I have been a pastry chef for over 20 years, and when people tell me that they don’t bake at home because it is too complicated, I always answer that a good dessert doesn’t necessarily have to be fussy or complicated. The baking field is all about following a recipe, or a certain process to yield the best results, and I find that people are afraid of making a mistake in the learning process, so they just don’t do it at all. If you feel this way, you are really missing out…
A good homemade custard or pudding is just about one of the quickest and easiest things you can make. It is versatile enough that you can easily change the flavor as we did with our smooth and rich chocolate pudding, or you can add fresh or dried fruit and layer it with cake or cookies as in a trifle or you can sandwich it between flaky layers of prebaked puff pastry and turn it into a traditional napoleon.
Today I was inspired by the change in weather and the lovely, ethereal smells of autumn. I made individual custard parfaits layered with store bought Swedish gingerbread and a multi-spice infused custard. This is truly a perfect dessert…because it’s great after a casual meal or it can be dressed with a dollop of sweet cream for unexpected guests who will think that you spent all day in the kitchen. Mastering the rules of custard making will allow you to be creative in developing so many other fantastic desserts.
FOR VANILLA CUSTARD, SIMPLY OMIT THE SPICES BUT DO ADD THE VANILLA
***An original recipe from www.goodfoodgourmet.com
Multi Spice Custard Parfait
3 cups half & half
6 yolks
½ cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tablespoon butter (omit if you are baking the custard)
1 split vanilla bean (or 3 teaspoons vanilla)
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cardamom
Separate the egg yolks and add to a non reactive stainless steel bowl. Add in the sugar and the cornstarch and mix well until there are no lumps. Add the half & half to a medium sized stainless steel pot along with all of the spices and allow the mixture to come to a full simmer. If you are using a vanilla bean, split the bean and add it to the liquid also. If you are using vanilla extract, make sure it is a good one and add it to the egg mixture. Once it is at a full simmer (not boiling), remove the vanilla pod and temper the liquid into the egg yolk mixture by adding a little hot liquid at a time. Whisk everything together well in the bowl, and then add everything back into the pot over medium heat. Continue to whisk until the mixture has thickened, this will take about 5-8 minutes. Once it has thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the 1 tablespoon of butter, then cover loosely and allow it to cool at room temperature. Once cool, you can layer this into a trifle dish with cake or cookies and fresh fruit. If you prefer just the custard alone, or the custard with dried fruit layered with cake or cookies, you can layer it in your dish while it is still warm, then allow it to cool at room temperature (loosely covered) and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
ALL CUSTARDS SHOULD BE COOKED IN NON REACTIVE STAINLESS STEEL COOKWARE AND NEVER IN ALUMINUM COOKWARE.
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