Custard

Custard is a sweet dessert made from a combination of milk or cream, egg yolks, cornflour[?], sugar and flavourings such as vanilla essence. Depending on how much thickener is added, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce to a thick blancmange like that used for vanilla slice.

Custard is an important part of dessert recipes originating in many countries including England, France, Italy and Australia. Recipes involving custard include:

• English trifle
• custard tarts[?]
• creme caramel[?]
• Danish pastry
• Vanilla slice[?].
• Zabaglione
• Floating islands[?]
• creme brulee
• frozen custard[?]
• icecream

Most custard is cooked in a double boiler or heated very gently on the stove in a saucepan, but custard can also be steamed or baked in the oven in a steam bath or bain-marie.

Not all custards are sweet. The filling for a traditional quiche is made from a savoury custard incorporating cheese for flavouring.

See Wikipedia Cookbook for recipes