Can't make this without breaking a few eggs

I must have been in highly-motivated Edmonds mode last night, because after I'd finished eating my soup I decided to go back in the kitchen and make some pudding. I no particular reason, I chose baked custard (p207).


The concept of this recipe has always confused me a bit. I tend to think of custard as something in the nature of a condiment: a thick but pourable substance that goes with pudding or fruit - not a dish in itself.


It's easy to make - you heat some milk, whisk in eggs, sugar and vanilla, then pour into a pie dish. The pie dish is then placed in a waterbath and baked for an hour at 150 degrees.

I put the milk on to heat and then got distracted trying to find something to use as a waterbath - my usual pie dish wouldn't fit inside my roasting dish. After considering various options, I swapped my pie dish for a 20cm sponge sandwich tin.


When I went to add the eggs to my warmed milk, I found I'd fallen prey to the same old error of not checking I had all the ingredients before making a start on the dish. I needed three eggs; I had only one. I had to take that milk off the heat and put my custard-making ambitions on hold overnight.

This evening I returned to the kitchen with eggs. This time all went well and I got the custard into the waterbath and in the oven without any trouble. I did realise after a few minutes that Id' forgotten to scatter nutmeg over the top, and grabbed the custard briefly out again to do this.


When the timer went off, I grabbed the dish out of the oven too hastily, accidentally sloshing water into the custard. I tipped off the worst of it, and blotted the rest with a paper towel. The custard seemed cooked; a bit rubbery even. I scooped some into a bowl and had a taste.

Well, it tastes like eggs. On the whole I prefer custard made with eggs over custard made without, but this one was so eggy it didn't even taste like dessert. The texture was not wonderful either - the skin on the surface was thick and chewy, and even underneath it the custard was still slightly rubbery.


My taking the custard out part way through cooking may have adversely affected the texture, or sloshing that water over it at the end. It's possible, but really I think the custard would have come out much the same no matter what. Overall, not a fan of this one.