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Baked Custard

A historical recipe from A handbook of invalid cooking, by Mary A. Boland (1893).

A historical recipe

A handbook of invalid cooking: for the use of nurses in training, nurses in private practice, and others who care for the sick, by Mary A. Boland (1893). Project Gutenberg eBook #54568.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Its words name: preserving or pickling. Check current food-safety guidance before following this.

Source and licence

From A handbook of invalid cooking, by Mary A. Boland (1893). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #54568 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54568). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

Read the original Public domain in the USA

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.

  • Preserving. Old preserving methods may not make food safe to keep. Use current tested guidance.

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Ingredients

Method

  1. 1 Pint of milk.
  2. 2 Eggs.
  3. 1 Saltspoon of salt.
  4. 2 Tablespoons of sugar.
  5. ½ Square inch of cinnamon-bark.
  6. Put the cinnamon and milk together in a saucepan, and set on the stove to heat.
  7. Break the eggs into a bowl, add the salt and sugar, and beat them until well mixed, but not light.
  8. When the milk boils, pour it on the beaten egg, stir slowly for a minute to dissolve the sugar, and then strain it into custard-cups.
  9. Place the cups in a deep iron baking-pan, and pour boiling water around, until it reaches almost to their tops.
  10. Bake in a hot oven twenty minutes.
  11. The blue baking-cups which are small at the bottom and widen toward the top are good ones to use.
  12. They bear the fire well, and are pretty enough to serve.
  13. By baking the custards in a dish of boiling water, the temperature cannot rise higher than 212° Fahr., and there is less danger of hardening the albumen in the more exposed portions before the middle is cooked enough, than if water is not used.
  14. The top is sacrificed--somewhat overcooked--for the sake of the pretty brown color which they should always have.
  15. Custards, when done, should be of a perfectly smooth, even, velvety consistence throughout, not curdled or wheyey.
  16. To test them after they have been cooking twenty minutes, dip a pointed knife into water, and plunge it into the middle of the custard.
  17. If it comes out clean, the custard is done;
  18. if milky, it is not cooked enough, and should be put into the oven for five minutes longer.
  19. Do not try every one unless the cups are of different sizes, and make a small, narrow slit, so that their appearance will not be too much injured.
  20. This mixture may also be baked in a pudding-dish.
  21. Baked custards may be flavored with a variety of substances, among the best of which are grated nutmeg, almond extract, vanilla, and caramel.
  22. To Make Caramel.
  23. Boil together one cup of sugar and one third of a cup of water until the color is a rich reddish brown, then add one cup of water, and bottle for use.
  24. Two tablespoons of this syrup will be required to flavor a pint of custard.