Baked Custard
intro
Silky, gently set vanilla baked custard, a nostalgic comfort dessert made with simple pantry staples, ideal for cozy family meals.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep oven and ramekins
First, preheat your oven to 165°C (325°F) with the middle rack positioned. Grease the inside of four 180ml (6-oz) ceramic ramekins evenly with the 5g softened unsalted butter, then set the ramekins inside a deep 23x33cm (9x13 inch) baking dish.
Warm the milk base
Pour the 480ml whole milk into a small heavy-bottomed stainless steel saucepan, set over medium-low heat. Warm the milk for 4-5 minutes until it reaches 70°C (160°F), when tiny bubbles form around the pan edges and gentle steam rises; do not bring the milk to a rolling boil, then remove from heat immediately.
Mix egg and sugar
In a medium heatproof glass mixing bowl, slowly whisk the 3 large eggs and 50g granulated sugar together for 1 minute until fully combined, smooth, and pale lemon yellow, with no visible streaks of egg white. Avoid fast, vigorous whisking to prevent excess air bubbles that cause pockmarks in the finished set custard.
Temper egg mixture
While whisking the egg mixture constantly at a slow, steady pace, pour 120ml (1/2 cup) of the warm milk into the bowl in a thin, slow stream to gently raise the egg temperature and prevent curdling. Once fully incorporated, slowly pour in the remaining warm milk and 5ml vanilla extract, whisking gently until completely smooth.
Strain and portion custard
Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large spouted liquid measuring cup, then pour the custard mixture through the sieve to catch any small lumps or egg curds for an ultra-smooth final texture. Divide the strained custard evenly between the four prepared buttered ramekins, filling each to 1cm (1/2 inch) below the rim, then sprinkle the top of each custard evenly with the 1g freshly grated nutmeg.
Bake in water bath
Carefully pull out the middle rack of the preheated 165°C (325°F) oven, then set the baking dish with filled ramekins on the rack. Pour the 1L of hot tap water into the baking dish until the water level comes halfway up the outer sides of the ramekins, taking care not to splash water into the custard. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the custard edges are fully set but the center 2cm (1 inch) jiggles softly like Jell-O when the dish is gently nudged.
Cool and serve custard
Use kitchen tongs to carefully transfer the hot ramekins from the water bath to a wire cooling rack. Let the custards cool at room temperature for 15 minutes, then serve warm, or chill covered in the refrigerator for 2 hours for a firmer, cold-set custard.
Tips
2.Do not overbake your custard: if the center is fully firm when you nudge the dish, the custard will turn grainy and watery as it cools; the soft jiggle in the middle will fully set during resting.
3.For an extra-luxurious texture, replace 120ml (1/2 cup) of the whole milk with heavy cream; avoid using skim or low-fat milk, as it will produce a thin, watery custard with weak flavor.
OMG this custard is SO good! I made it for our Sunday family dinner last night and even my super picky 7 year old asked for a second helping. The texture is perfectly silky, no weird lumps at all, and it was way easier than I thought it would be for a baked custard. 10/10 will be making this for our next potluck too!
Really tasty custard! My first time ever making any kind of baked custard and it turned out pretty great, though I think I overbaked mine by 5 minutes so the edges were a tiny bit rubbery. The center was perfect though, my roommate ate half the batch in one sitting. Any tips for getting the timing right with a weird old apartment oven?
I’ve been making baked custard for over 40 years and this recipe is hands down the best version I’ve ever tried. The ratio of cream to eggs is spot on for that perfect silky mouthfeel, I added a tiny pinch of freshly grated nutmeg on top like my mom used to and it was chef’s kiss. Game changer for my weekly dessert rotation!
Meal prep win! I made a big batch of these on Sunday and they’ve been the perfect quick weeknight dessert for my kids all week. I topped each one with a little fresh strawberry compote and they go crazy for it. Way cheaper and tastier than the store-bought custard cups I used to buy!
Tasted good but I had a bunch of bubbles on the top of mine so it didn’t look as smooth as the photos. Flavor was great though, not too sweet which I appreciate. Maybe I poured the custard too fast into the ramekins?
Just pulled these out of the oven to chill and my whole house smells like vanilla heaven! I snuck a tiny spoonful of the warm custard and it’s unreal. I’m bringing these to my book club tonight once they’re fully set in the fridge and I know everyone is going to beg for the recipe.
Made this for my neighborhood potluck last weekend and people were literally scraping their ramekins clean! I was worried it would be too fussy to make for a crowd but it baked up perfectly, even when I doubled the recipe. Will be my go-to easy dessert for every gathering from now on.
Really solid custard recipe! I swapped in half oat milk because I ran out of heavy cream and it still came out really creamy, just a tiny bit less rich than the full dairy version. Great for anyone who needs a lighter swap without losing that silky texture.
Tried the coconut milk swap Chef Admin mentioned in the comment thread above and HOLY COW it’s so good! I’m lactose intolerant so I usually skip custard entirely but this was so rich and creamy I couldn’t even tell it was dairy free. Topped mine with a little toasted coconut and it was perfect.
I’m not much of a baker but this recipe was so hard to mess up! The instructions were super clear, no fancy ingredients required, and the end result tasted like something from a fancy little bakery. My girlfriend said it’s the best thing I’ve ever made for her, so I’m definitely making this again for our anniversary next month.