How To Make Custards, Creams, Dessert Sauces

Quick Navigation

• Tools and Resources
• Ice Cream Custard (Recipe)
• What is a Bain Marie?
• Creme Anglais (Recipe)
• Pastry Cream (Recipe)
• Sabayon (Recipe)
• Baked Custards
• How to Tell When a Custard is Done

Bakeshop Bounty

Tools and Resources

A factor in your success is ensuring your preparedness for your foray into the world of custards and creams. I have put together an easy list of equipment and tools to help you on your journey. I use products from Amazon that pays us a commission if you purchase a product through our links, at no cost to you. This helps us continue providing content. Whether you chose to use our links or not, thank you for your support and I hope you find this content worthwhile.

Ice Cream Maker

I recently picked up an ice cream maker for home use after using several commercial ice cream makers. I can say this one is one of my favorite and is built with good quality. My only complaint is the plastic churning apparatus, but then again I am using this once or twice a week. To check it out, click here.

Hand Tools

Here is a common list of the required hand tools you will need along with our links. Not many of these warrant a recommendation, but I have chosen the best that Amazon has to offer.

• Whisk
• Spatula
• Ramekins (Custard cups)
• Stainless steel bowls
• Hotel pan
• Instant read thermometer
• Fine Mesh Strainer

Learning How To Make Custard

Related Content

Custard can be stirred or baked. A stirred custard will tend to be softer, richer and creamier. A baked custard, that’s typically cooked in a bain-marie, is usually firm enough to slice.

Ice Cream or Frozen Custards

Frozen custard is ice cream, but not all ice cream is frozen custard

A big factor in ice cream grading is the ratio of milk fat and milk solids. Anything labeled “ice cream” must not have less than 10% milkfat and 20% milk solids and have no more than 50% “overrun”. Overrun is the amount of air churned into ice cream.

One hallmark of good ice cream and gelato is smoothness. The ice crystals that would normally form during freezing can be avoided by constant stirring or churning. Churning, usually done mechanically, also incorporates air into the product. The air causes the mixture to expand. Gelato has little incorporated air. Good quality ice creams and sorbets have enough air to make them light. Inferior products often contain overrun. The difference becomes obvious when equal volumes are weighed.

This is another reason why the more expensive ice creams often come in smaller containers. They have a much higher density which gives you a superior product.

 

The Bain-Marie (Double Boiler Method)

Stirred Custards

Vanilla Custard Sauce (Creme Anglaise)

Pastry Cream

Sabayon

A Sabayon is a foamy stirred custard made from whisking eggs, sugar, and wine over low heat. The white wine is the key element in this dessert. The egg proteins will coagulate, thickening the mixture while the whisking incorporates air to make a light and fluffy texture. Sweet wine is usually used; Marsala and Champagne are the most popular choices.

a sabayon can be served warm, or it can be chilled. Sabayon may be served alone or as a sauce or topping with fruit or pastries such as sponge cake or ladyfingers.

Baked Custards

How to Tell when a Baked Custard is Done

Creme Caramel

A creme caramel, creme renversee, and flan all refer to an egg custard baked over a layer of caramelized sugar and inverted for serving. The caramelized sugar produces a golden-brown surface on the flan and a thin caramel sauce.

Taking what you learned about how to make a custard from above, a creme caramel would have caramel placed into the bottom of the ramekin with the creme Anglaise poured over it, cooked in a bain-marie. When finished and cooled, it would be turned upside down to be removed and the creme caramel would then come out as well. An alternative to this is to add the caramel to the dessert right before serving.

Cheesecake

Cheesecakes are almost as old as Western civilization itself. They have undergone many changes and variations since the ancient Greeks created the first known recipe. Americans revolutionized the dessert with the development of cream cheese in 1872.

Cheesecake is a baked custard that contains a smooth cheese, usually a soft fresh cheese such as cream, ricotta, cottage or farmer cheese. Cheesecake might be prepared without a crust or it could also have a base or sides of the short dough, cookie crumbs, nuts, etc. The filling can be dense and rich (New York style), or light a fluffy (Italian style). Fruit, nuts and other flavorings may also be included in the filling. Cheesecakes are often topped with fruit or a sour cream glaze.

Cheesecakes require special cookware called a springform pan. These are a must if you want to attempt a cheesecake. It is best not to get a cheap or no-name brand as they could leak. I recommend picking up a good quality pan, and if you would like to see my recommendation, click here to view it on Amazon.

Bread Pudding

A home-style dessert in which chunks of bread, flavorings, and raisins or other fruit are mixed with an egg custard and baked. The result is somewhat a cross between a cake and a pudding. It is sometimes served with custard sauce, ice cream, or whipped cream. Bread pudding is a delicious way to use stale bread or overripe fruit.

Interested in More?

Check out these related posts