Baked Caramel Custard
Awaiting Trial Recipe version 1 · Filed by the Court (seed pool) · Filed from the federal original: 'Baked Caramel Custard' in Selections from Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes and USDA Favorites, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Science and Education Administration, Home and Garden Bulletin No. 215, issued August 1976 (in the 'Recipes from the 1920's' section, a selection reprinted from the first edition of Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes and retested by USDA for this bulletin — filed from this 1976 federal edition, the edition actually read, not attributed to 1927) — a U.S. federal work, public domain. Text read in full at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/65379/old/65379-0.txt (Project Gutenberg eBook #65379). Natural: no flour or other gluten ingredient appears in the original, and none was added. Two editorial completions, disclosed here: the original gives the caramel syrup by yield (1/4 cup used) without a sugar quantity, so 1/2 cup sugar is specified for making it; and the original gives a knife test but no baking time, so the filed time (about 35 to 40 minutes at 325°F in a water bath) is an editorial estimate. The filed yield of 8 custard cups is an editorial serving assignment.
A quart of milk and five eggs set in custard cups in a water bath, flavored with caramel syrup made by melting sugar in a heavy skillet until it turns a heavy brown syrup.
Why this complexity: Caramel syrup is made from dry sugar and must come off the heat the moment it browns; Hot milk mixture is poured into the eggs without scrambling them; Custards are judged by the knife test and removed from the water bath at once.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar, for the custard, plus 1/2 cup sugar for the caramel syrup
- 1 quart milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Butter, a small piece for each cup
Method
- Make the caramel syrup: put 1/2 cup sugar in a heavy skillet over slow, even heat and stir constantly until it melts and becomes a heavy brown syrup. Take it from the fire at once.
- Heat the milk slightly with the 1/2 cup sugar, the salt, and 1/4 cup of the caramel syrup, stirring until the syrup is entirely dissolved.
- Pour the hot mixture slowly into the lightly beaten eggs, stirring. Add the vanilla.
- Pour into custard cups and add a small piece of butter to each. Set the cups in a pan surrounded by hot water.
- Heat the oven to 325°F (slow). Make until a knife point placed in the center of a custard comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes.
- Remove the cups from the hot water at once. Serve hot or cold, with more caramel syrup if a stronger caramel flavor is wanted.
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