Vanilla Custards
A historical recipe from Domestic French Cookery, 4th ed., by Sulpice Barué (1836).
A historical recipe
Domestic French Cookery, 4th ed., by Sulpice Barué (1836). Project Gutenberg eBook #34837.
From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.
France
Known as a French recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.
Ingredients 3 ingredients
- a quart of milk
- a pound of white sugar
- eight beaten eggs
Cook safely
Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.
- Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
- Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
- Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.
Method
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- Cut a vanilla bean into slips, and boil them in a quart of milk, with a quarter of a pound of white sugar.
- Let it boil slowly for a quarter of an hour, and then set it away to cool.
- When cold, stir into it eight beaten eggs, having left out the whites of four.
- Put the mixture into cups, set them in water and bake them.
- Color them when done, by holding over them a red-hot shovel.
- When cold, grate on sugar.
- Lemon Custards are made in the same manner;
- substituting for the vanilla bean the grated rind of a large fresh lemon.
Plating
Cookware for this recipe
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Saucepan
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Chef's knife
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Grater
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Wooden spoon