Cozy Custards Comforting Puddings And Custards Are Among The Smoothest And Simplest Of Deserts

Milk and eggs, gently baked until they set - could anything be simpler, more soothing to the palate, to the stomach, to the soul? Because they are so easy to digest, custards have long been spooned to children, to babies in the nursery and to invalids. (One early-American recipe is called “a sick bed custard” - the original comfort food.)

That’s a clue to these desserts’ appeal: There is something inherently nurturing about them. Unlike desserts with more “texture,” custards offer no challenge, no resistance - you can just glide on in with the spoon.

While each has its own characteristic consistency, simple puddings, custards and souffles are actually variations on a theme. The simplest puddings are starchthickened mixtures (usually made with milk and sometimes with eggs) that are stirred in a saucepan until smooth. A true custard, on the other hand, is set by eggs alone and baked (usually protected by the gentle heat of a water bath).

Custard that is cooked on top of the stove and thickened by eggs alone with no starch is called creme anglaise or custard sauce. It is a sauce rather than a spoon dessert. And despite all the mystique that surrounds the souffle, it is nothing more than a flavored custard-like base that’s lightened with beaten egg whites, baked and served immediately.

Once you have the basics, you can elaborate, enriching and flavoring a basic cup custard so that it becomes a pot de creme. Or coat individual baked custard molds with caramel for flan or creme caramel; when they are unmolded, the caramel glazes them with an instant sauce. Or you can sprinkle the surface of a baked custard with sugar, then brown it under a flame to make creme brulee (the name means “burned cream”), which originated much earlier than you might think.

Taking the theme still further, custard can be used as part of an assembly, layered in a bowl with cake, fruit and liqueur for a trifle, a special-occasion dessert. Topped with poached meringues, a cool custard becomes oeufs a la neige, also called “snow eggs.”

Not surprisingly for food of such primal comfort, custards are a very old preparation. Originally a corruption of “crustade” (other forms are “crustarde” and “custad”), which was an open pie, the word first appeared in 1390 in “The Forme of Cury,” as “Crustardes of Flesch, also of Fysche.” Custards of the 15th and 16th centuries were usually baked in a crust - Shakespeare’s “custard coffin.” In 1628, Brother John Earle refers to “Quaking Tarts, and quiuering Custards, and such milke sop Dishes.”

We’ve come to expect custard to taste of vanilla. But vanilla extract wasn’t widely available in American grocery stores until sometime between 1847 and 1850. Before that, from the early 1800s, tincture of vanilla, an extractlike concoction in an alcohol base, was sold mainly through druggists. (The first vanilla beans were brought to this country from France by Thomas Jefferson just before the turn of the 19th century.)

Before vanilla, custards were flavored with wine, usually fortified wines like sherry, madeira or malaga; or with brandy, tea or spices and often with peach leaves or kernels, which imparted an almond-like flavor.

You can buy a variety of custard and pudding mixes. But none compare to the comfort - in both making and eating - of the real thing.

Richard Sax is the author of the newly released “Classic Home Desserts” (Chapters Publishing), from which this article is excerpted.

Coffee Cup Creme Carmel

Every restaurant in Spain offers flan, the traditional custard baked in carmel-coated cups. As creme caramel, the same dessert is a standby in every bristo in France, in much the same way that every American restaurant serves cheesecake. Too many cremes carmel, however, are made indifferently, the custard pocked with holes and weeping watery liquid and without enough egg yokes to give it that sweet, gelid essence on the tongue. Which is why, when you find a creme caramel as perfect as that of Stephen Lyle, chef of the Odeon restaurant in New York City, you sit up and take notice. Lyle bakes his creme caramel in thick restaurant coffee cups; any ramekins or heatproof custard cups will work fine. The caramel stays liquid as it bakes and is then poured over and around the custard as it is unmolded.

Caramel:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cold water

Custard:

3 cups milk

2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

6 large egg yolks

To prepare Caramel, place 6 heavy coffee cups, ramekins or custard cups in roasting pan. Cook sugar and water in heavy saucepan or skillet, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring syrup to full boil. Cook, without stirring, until syrup caramelizes to medium-dark amber color, 8 to 10 minutes - timing can vary. Immediately immerse bottom of pan in cold water to stop cooking. Pour caramel into cups, swirling to coat bottoms. Set aside.

To prepare Custard, combine milk and vanilla beans in heavy saucepan. Bring mixture to boil. Remove from heat and let steep about 15 minutes. Remove vanilla beans. Scrape seeds from pods into milk.

Whisk sugar, eggs and egg yolks in bowl. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture. Strain mixture into pitcher or large measuring cup. Pour custard into caramel-lined cups, using about cup for each.

Place roasting pan on center rack of oven. Pour in enough hot tap water to reach halfway up sides of cups. Bake at 325 degrees until custards are just set but still slightly wobbly in center, 50 to 60 minutes (timing can vary - do not overcook). Carefully remove custards from water bath and cool to room temperature on wire rack. Cover and chill until cold, at least 2 hours.

To serve, run tip of knife gently around edge of each cup. Invert creme caramel onto dessert plates. Serve, spooning liquid caramel over tops.

Yield: 6 servings.

Butterscotch Pudding

If you love pudding, then your dessert flavor trinity isn’t vanilla, chocolate and strawberry but vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch. This pudding has that marvelous real butterscotch flavor you just can’t get from a boxed mix.

3 cups milk

4 large egg yolks

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup cornstarch, spooned lightly into measuring cup (do not pack tightly)

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Whipped cream flavored with vanilla extract, optional

Rinse heavy nonreactive saucepan with cold water and shake out excess water (this helps prevent milk from scorching). Bring 2 cups milk nearly to boil.

Meanwhile, whisk together remaining cup milk, egg yolks, brown sugar and cornstarch in mixing bowl until smooth.

Pour about cup hot milk into egg yolk mixture and whisk vigorously. Repeat process 2 more times. Pour warmed yolk mixture into pan of hot milk and bring to boil, whisking, over medium heat. Boil, whisking almost constantly (be sure to stir at edges of pan), 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter and vanilla.

Strain pudding through fine sieve into clean bowl. Transfer pudding to 4 individual serving dishes, preferably glass sundae dishes. If you want to prevent pudding “skin” from forming, place sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding. Chill 2 to 3 hours. Serve topped with vanilla-flavored whipped cream.

Yield: 4 servings.

Edna Lewis’s Chocolate Souffle

It’s hard to think of a souffle, the loftiest of desserts, as a homely pudding. But what is a souffle, but a pudding lightened with beaten egg whites and baked until inflated to momentary glory? Still fondly remembered by New Yorkers, this was Edna Lewis’s signature dessert during the heyday of Cafe Nicholson.

Souffle:

1 cup milk

1/2 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons flour

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, grated

1/3 cup hot water

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large egg yolks

5 large egg whites

Hot Chocolate Sauce:

1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, grated

1 cup water

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Small piece vanilla bean or teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Powdered sugar, for sprinkling

Whipped cream, for serving

To prepare Souffle, scald milk in small saucepan with vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, do not add it now.) Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt butter in heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add flour and cook over medium heat, stirring, 3 minutes, until opaque but not brown. Remove vanilla bean and add milk, whisking vigorously. Cook mixture, whisking occasionally, until thick and smooth, about 5 minutes.

Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Remove pan from heat. If using vanilla extract, add it now. Whisk in hot water, granulated sugar and salt until blended. Add egg yolks, stirring vigorously, until smooth and satiny. Cover chocolate base with wax paper, pressing it directly on surface and set aside in warm place.

Beat egg whites in medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold a little egg white into chocolate base, then gently fold in remainder. Spoon gently into 2-quart unbuttered souffle dish or 4 to 6 (1-cup) ramekins. In either case, dishes should be about full.

Bake at 450 degrees on center rack until puffed and browned, 20 to 25 minutes for large souffle, 12 to 13 minutes for individual ones.

Meanwhile, prepare Hot Chocolate Sauce. Combine chocolate, water, granulated sugar and vanilla bean in small heavybottomed saucepan. (If using vanilla extract, do not add it now.) Simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Remove vanilla bean and keep sauce warm until needed. Stir in vanilla extract, if using, just before serving.

Sprinkle souffle with powdered sugar and serve immediately with Hot Chocolate Sauce and whipped cream.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.