Introduction to Custard (1 Second Between Custard and Curdled)

On the face of it, all that custard is is cooking eggs and liquid together, so instead of curdling, the eggs thicken. Sweeten it, you got a creamy sauce. Freeze it while whipping in air, you've got ice cream. Bake it in a water bath and burn the top of it with a little extra sugar, crème brulée. Throw in bread and mix-ins: voilà, bread pudding.

Today, we made crème brulée, crème anglais, ice cream custard, and bread pudding. Each custard bases was basically the same, except for slightly different ratios of the basic ingredients.

Bring milk and/or cream to a boil with the sugar to dissolve the sweetener. (I was making vanilla ice cream, so I scraped the innards of a few beans in at this point -- if I were making a different flavor, I would mix in flavors when the contents went into an ice bath). Separately, whisk eggs/egg yolks to smooth, not frothy. Temper 1/3 of the boiling liquid into the eggs, then put the egg mixture into the dairy. Slowly cook and don't stop stirring, paying attention to thickness. At first it will be liquidy, but the heat will start making the eggs thicken the liquid. At one point, it'll be nice and thick and napé; wait too long and it curdles and becomes grainy and overcooked.

For bread pudding, raisins were plumped in boiling water and soaked in rum, then placed on the bottom of a gratin dish. French bread was cubed, tossed with butter and sugar, toasted to golden brown, and placed on top of the raisins with some chocolate pieces. The custard was mixed with a little rum and poured over the whole thing. It sat to absorb the custard for about 30 minutes; then it was put in the oven to sit on a sheet with water (to prevent the bottom for curdling and burning), for about an hour.

Making crème brulée requires similar methods but for the use of heavy cream and egg yolks. Once thickened on the stove, put into small containers and baked on water. When cooled off, sugar is sprinkled on top then a torch is used to caramelize the tops. (This can also be done under a broiler, but must be watched closely.)

I've made ice cream plenty of times at home, and felt a bit cocky making the the ice cream. I showed Chef my first batch and she basically said, "Thanks! I now have an example of how not to make ice cream to show the class!" I had overcooked it -- seems I've been overcooking my ice cream since I started. When looked at closely, there was indeed graininess to mixture, since I had brought it up to a simmer. The next time around, I tried using a lower heat, and cooked it slowly. I was able to get it to the right thickness without simmering and looked a lot better. Damn! I didn't even know I was doing things wrong. My final product was really good, but now it's going to be even better.

The crème anglaise preparation is very similar to vanilla ice cream, with a slightly different ratio. It's usually used as a condiment for pastry and baked items, and since we had none, I packed it up to try tonight.

Tomorrow, an introduction to ice cream.

ADDENDA:

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, organic cornflakes with good milk, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5

AM TASTINGS: 9-11am, tastes of different stages of custard, a small creme brulee, a small portion of chocolate bread pudding, a small piece of french bread, a handful of chocolate, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tried not to eat too much, still felt queasy after.

PM WATERING: 12:30, 1 quart of water
All the sweets in class make me feel unthirsty, but then it hits me.

PM SNACK: 3pm, school made soft pretzel, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5 Still feel queasy, but hunger emerging.

DINNER: 7:30pm, raw milk talegio with crackers, tarte flambe, sauteed pork loin with veal pan sauce, sauted string beans, pommes maxim, creme anglais ice cream, creme brulee, 1 quarter of a peach donut, 3 glasses wine, seltzer, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Cooked dinner for E, her gentleman caller, and B. Tarte flambe (sauteed bacon, carmelized onion and a smooth blend of cottage cheese and creme fraiche over a pizza base) came out great, much better than the 1st time I made it at home. The pork was sauteed well, though the pan sauce was off -- the month-old veal glace in the freezer tasted a little like it's plastic container, so I masked it with a little sugar and a dash of unreduced wine. The string beans came out well, though I messed up the pomme maxim AGAIN with too much butter and too high an oven temp. The ice cream made from the creme anglais was absolutely wonderful, but trying to caramelize the tops of the creme brulee under the broiler wasn't effective -- the top got a little dark and crunchy, but the whole thing got hot and liquidy.