I baked custard at too much heat, is there a name for what I created?
Recently a friend from the Americas gave me a simple recipe for custard, I never had custard (or at least not knowingly) and thus wanted to try it out. The recipe in it's original form would be:
3-4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
some nutmegBlend & put into bowls, put bowls into larger dish filled with water.
Put into the oven at 176F & cook for around 45min.
Knowing that I am from Switzerland he tried to translate it to metric (this is the recipe that I got from him):
3-4 eggs
118ml sugar
1.2ml salt
709ml milk
4.8ml vanilla
some nutmegBlend & put into bowls, put bowls into larger dish filed with water.
Put into the oven at 176C & cook for around 45min.
As my oven only does 5C increases I put it in at 180C and didn't spend much time thinking about it. The result does not taste bad at all, but the consistency is less that of a cream (looked up custard on Wikipedia in the end) and more that of supermarket flan.
Q: Is there a name for the monstrosity I created or is it still custard?
Best Answer
What you made is a baked custard, and it sounds like it came out rather well.
A runny/pouring custard is made in a pan on the stove top, rather than baked, but has a similar ratio of ingredients, sometimes with added flour or cornflour to thicken it.
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Quick Answer about "I baked custard at too much heat, is there a name for what I created?"
When exposed to too much heat, the egg proteins will coagulate too much. They will form stronger bonds with the surrounding proteins, making clumps and lumps and separating from the liquid surrounding them. This is called curdling.What happens when you overcook custard?
If custard is overcooked, the more tightly the proteins join together. They becoming thicker, curdling and squeezing out all the water which you see evidence of coming from little tunnels in the custard, called synersis.What temperature should custard be cooked to?
Getting them right: Sweet custards typically thicken between 160\xb0F and 180\xb0F, well below the boiling point.How do you tell when baked custard is done?
The knife test: Test for doneness with a thin-bladed knife. Insert knife about 1 inch from the center of a one-dish custard; midway between center and edge of cups. If knife is clean when pulled out, the custard is done. If any custard clings to the blade, bake a few minutes longer and test again.Why did my baked custard separate?
Our answer. With a baked egg custard the mixture sets as the proteins in the egg coagulate. When this happens the protein strands that are usually curled up start to unwind and stick to each other, causing the liquid they are in to thicken.Vanilla Bean Custard | Jamie Oliver - AD
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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