Baked Custards

Custard- a combination of eggs and milk that when cooked will produce a smooth pudding-like mixture

• Basic Ratio-3 eggs to 1 cup milk-Will give you a very firm, moldable custard. Yolks can be substituted for whole eggs to give a richer softer set custard

• All custards need to be strained before baking to assure a smooth custard

• Baked custard are baked in a bain marie or water bath to insulate the custard and even out the cooking temperature. It is best to cover with an inverted sheetpan to aid in the baking.

When a baked custard is over baked synerisis occurs. This means that the protein strains in the whites have become so tightly wound that they begin to squeeze out the liquid instead of bonding with it. Visual characteristics of this is; a custard that rises,air holes in the custardand a watery custard

Types of Baked Custards• crème caramel(flan)- a sweetened custard baked with

caramel on the bottom of the dish. When it is cooled the custard is inverted and the caramel turns to a sauce on top of the custard

• crème brulee- a rich sweetened custard (yolks and heavy cream.) It is baked in a swallow dish and cooled.

When cooled sugar is placed on top and caramelized or bruleed

• pot au crème- a rich flavored and sweetened custard. It is baked

in a ramekin

• bread pudding- sweetened custard with the addition of stale or toasted breads and other

garnishments. It is baked in a large baking dish

Sugar Cookery• Sugar and water are combined and cooked at a high

temperature to produce syrups and caramel in desserts

• As the sugar and water is cooked the sugar evaporates at different increments as the temperature rises

• It will do through several different stages:Thread 220 degrees

Soft ball 240 degreesHardball 260 degreesCaramel 340 degrees

• These are named after the appearance of the sugar when a small amount is placed in cool water while the sugar is boiling