Proper cornflour custard

You can flavour custard with lemon zest, vanilla bean, a bay leaf or cardamom. I’ve used orange because it goes so well with the gooseberry. Custard will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

1 litre milk

3 strips orange rind

50 g (⅔ cup) cornflour

6 eggs

100 g (½ cup) vanilla sugar (see Note) or use white sugar and add a splash of vanilla extract

Makes 1 litre.

Instructions

Place milk and orange rind in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until warm. Remove from heat and steep for 15 minutes.

Place the cornflour in a large bowl and mix with 60 ml orange-infused milk until dissolved. Whisk in eggs and sugar.

Reheat remaining milk. Strain and whisk into egg mixture. Pour into a clean pan over low heat and stir continuously with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes or until custard mixture comes to the boil and is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap to stop a skin from forming. Cool, then refrigerate until cold.

Note

Vanilla sugar is from supermarkets.

Use custard in Matthew Evans' gooseberry and elderflower fool.

As seen in Feast Magazine, Issue 16, pg40.

Photography by Alan Benson   

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.