Description
Comforting Amish baked custard delights with its creamy richness and simple ingredients. Silky smooth texture and classic flavor invite home cooks to savor this traditional dessert that connects generations of kitchen memories.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- 4 cups (960 milliliters) milk
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
Flavor Enhancers:
- 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 grams) salt
Garnish:
- Ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Warm milk in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming, avoiding boiling point.
- Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a large mixing bowl until smooth and integrated.
- Gradually stream hot milk into egg mixture, continuously whisking to prevent egg scrambling.
- Carefully pass the liquid through a fine mesh strainer to eliminate potential egg clumps.
- Distribute custard evenly across six individual ramekins, ensuring consistent volume.
- Position ramekins inside a spacious baking pan, creating a water bath by filling halfway up the sides with hot water.
- Dust each custard surface with a delicate sprinkle of ground nutmeg for aromatic enhancement.
- Slide the water bath into a preheated 325F oven, allowing custards to bake for 45-50 minutes.
- Verify doneness by observing a gentle center wobble while edges appear firm and set.
- Extract custards from water bath and permit natural cooling to room temperature.
- Refrigerate for minimum two hours to achieve optimal texture and flavor development before serving chilled.
Notes
- Tempering is crucial to prevent scrambling eggs when adding hot milk, so pour slowly and whisk continuously.
- Creating a smooth custard requires straining the mixture to remove any potential egg lumps, ensuring a silky texture.
- Using a water bath (bain-marie) helps distribute heat evenly and prevents the custard from cracking or becoming rubbery.
- Nutmeg adds a traditional warm, aromatic flavor, but can be replaced with cinnamon for variation or omitted for those who prefer a plain custard.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 153
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 91 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 93 mg