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dablink|This article focuses on egg-thickened custards. For versions based on "custard powder" and their derivatives, see Bird's Custard .redirect|Egg custard|the "egg custard" tart|custard tartOther usesCustard is usually cooked in a double boiler ( bain-marie ), or heated very gently in a saucepan on a stove, though custard can also be steamed, baked in the oven with or without a water bath , or even cooked in a pressure cooker . Custard preparation is a delicate operation, because a temperature increase of 5–10 °F (3-6 °C) leads to overcooking and curdling. Generally, a fully cooked custard should not exceed 80 °C; it begins setting at 70 °C.cite book |author=Barham, Peter |title=The science of cooking |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin |year=2001 |page=126 |isbn=3-540-67466-7 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate= A water bath slows heat transfer and makes it easier to remove the custard from the oven before it curdles.cite book | first = Harold | last = McGee | title = On Food and Cooking | year = 1984 | isbn = 0-684-18132-0 | page = 71
History
Mixtures of milk and eggs thickened by heat have long been part of European cuisine. Custards baked in pastry ( custard tart s) were very popular in the Middle Ages, and are the origin of the English word 'custard': 'croustade' originally referred to the crust of a tart. Oxford Companion to Food , s.v. 'custard' Examples include Crustardes of flessh and Crustade , in The Forme of Cury . These recipes include solid ingredients such as meat, fish, and fruit bound by the custard.Hieatt, Constance, and Sharon Butler. Curye on Inglysch: English culinary manuscripts of the fourteenth century (including the forme of cury) . London, EETS SS 8, 1985.Austin, Thomas, ed. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books . London, EETS OS 91, 1888, repr. 1964; referring to Harleian MSS 279 and 4016. Stirred custards cooked in pots are also found under the names Creme Boylede and Creme boiled .
In modern times, the name 'custard' is sometimes applied to starch-thickened preparations like blancmange and Bird's Custard .
Custard variations
While custard may refer to a wide variety of thickened dishes, technically (and in French cookery) the word custard ( crème or more precisely crème moulée , IPA-fr|k??m mule|) refers only to an egg-thickened custard.
When starch is added, the result is called pastry cream (lang-fr|crème pâtissière, IPA-fr|k??m patisj???|pron) or confectioners' custard, made with a combination of milk or cream, egg yolk s, fine sugar, flour or some other starch, and usually a flavoring such as vanilla, chocolate, or lemon. Crème pâtissière is a key ingredient in many French desserts including mille-feuille (or Napoleons) and filled tarts. It is also used in Italian pastry and sometimes in Boston cream pie . Although egg thickens the custard, the effect is minimal, with the majority of thickening resulting from the starch. Corn flour or flour thicken at 100 C and as such many recipes instruct the pastry cream to be boiled. Although in a traditional custard, where egg is used alone as a thickener, such as in a crème anglaise, boiling results in the over cooking and subsequent 'curdling' of the custard, however in a pastry cream, starch prevents this. Once cooled, the amount of starch in pastry cream 'sets' the cream and requires it to be beaten or whipped before use.
When gelatin is added, it is known as crème anglaise collée (IPA-fr|k??m ?~gl?z kole|). When starch is used alone as a thickener (without eggs), the result is a blancmange . In the United Kingdom, custard often refers to a dessert thickened from cornflour (cornstarch) rather than eggs; see custard powder .
After the custard has thickened, it may be mixed with other ingredients: mixed with stiffly beaten egg whites and gelatin , it is chiboust cream ; mixed with whipped cream , it is crême légère , IPA-fr|k??m le????|.
Savoury custards
Not all custards are sweet. A quiche is a savoury custard tart. Some kinds of Timbale (food)|timbale or vegetable loaf are made of a custard base mixed with chopped savoury ingredients. Custard royale is a thick custard cut into decorative shapes and used to garnish soup , stew or broth . Chawanmushi is a Japanese cuisine|Japanese savoury custard, cooked and served in a small bowl or on a saucer.
Custard may also be used as a top layer in gratin s, such as the South African cuisine|South African bobotie and many Balkan cuisine|Balkan versions of moussaka .
Uses
Recipes involving sweet custard are listed in the :Category:Custard desserts|custard dessert category , and include: col-begincol-break
Cooked (set) custard is a weak gel , viscous and thixotropic ; while it does become easier to stir the more it is manipulated, it does not, unlike many other thixotropic liquids, recover its lost viscosity over time.Karla Longrée, Sharie Beaver, Paul Buck, Joseph E. Nowrey, "Viscous Behavior of Custard Systems", Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 14 :6:653 (1966), http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jafcau/1966/14/i06/f-pdf/f_jf60148a033.pdf pubs.acs.org
A suspension (chemistry)|suspension of uncooked custard powder ( starch ) in water, with the proper proportions, has the opposite rheology|rheological property: it is negative thixotropic, or dilatant , which is to say that it becomes more viscosity|viscous when under pressure. This suspension is termed Non-newtonian fluid#Oobleck|oobleck and often used in science demonstrations of non-Newtonian fluid|non-Newtonian fluids . The British popular-science programme Brainiac: Science Abuse demonstrated dilatancy dramatically by filling a swimming pool with this mixture and having presenter Jon Tickle walk across it;Cite episode | title = Brainiac: Science Abuse (unknown episode) | episodelink = Brainiac: Science Abuse this was called "walking on custard."
