thoughtful consumption

Chris and I have a new love – egg custard. I’ll make three servings in the morning whenever I’m planning vegetarian meals. Then we have one each that night for dessert and split the third at breakfast the next morning.

Here’s the basic recipe. It’s quick and easy without a lot of fuss. It evolved from this recipe, but I returned all the fat, replaced the Splenda with sugar, and then cut the sugar in half.

• 2 eggs
• 6 oz (half a can) of evaporated whole milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup + 2tbsp whole milk (The 2 tbsp makes up the difference in volume after halving the sugar.)
• pinch of salt
• ½ tbsp of vanilla (But it’s okay if your hand slips here. Mine usually does.)
• cinnamon or nutmeg to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup (or a bowl), beat the eggs and then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

3. Pour into three ramekins, sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg, and put the ramekins in a baking dish.

4. Add water to the baking dish until it’s halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until just set. (I’ve left them in for as long as an hour (whoops!), and they were still okay. Just a little rubbery on the top layer.)
6. Cool custards and then refrigerate for several hours or overnight. (If you’re in a rush, you can speed this up by putting the custards in the freezer. But don’t be in a rush. It’s worth it to wait another day for the texture and flavors to finish coming together.)

Chocolate egg custard

We replaced the ½ cup milk with chocolate milk. It was good, but I cut out all of the sugar to compensate and then wished I hadn’t. Next time, chocolate egg custard gets at least a tablespoon of sugar.

Duck egg custard

This is our gold standard now. Duck eggs are richer with bigger yolks and make incredible custard. I just splurged on another half-dozen duck eggs from the online store for three more rounds. Hooray!

Next up… chocolate duck egg custard.