Easy Egg Custard

A few years ago I had this revelation that it had been decades since I'd had any egg custard other than maybe some Flan or Creme Brulee at a nice restaurant. But I fondly remember having egg custard made by my mom in our kitchen from a box of Jello brand egg custard.  So I started poking around for it in stores, but it seemed to have disappeared from store shelves.  Then a couple of years ago I remembered again and searched on-line for it and found that you could still get it, but could only buy it a carton at a time.

Hmm, I decided it wasn't worth taking up a cubic foot of space in our pantry for it.  Surely, I said to myself, it can't be that hard to make from scratch.  And indeed it isn't.  To make it from scratch it is only slightly more labor intensive than from the box and so much better tasting to boot.

I found many recipes on-line, and found that I could even leave out a couple of steps from those recipies and get something just as yummy and beautiful.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 C whole milk
• 3 eggs (other recipes say 2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks... I found that wasn't necessary)
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1-2 t vanilla flavoring
• cinnamon & nutmeg garnish (optional)
• 6 small ramekins or pyrex baking cups

1. Turn the oven on to 400°
2. Place the ramekins in a 9x13 baking dish.
3. Scald the milk... I love this step.  Put the milk in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly until it comes to a boil.  Breath in the warm buttery aroma of the cooking milk.  Continue stirring for a minute or so... doesn't really seem to matter... just enjoy the moment.  [NOTE: the boxed stuff had to be cooked the same way as this... so making it from scratch doesn't save anything in this department]
4. While it's cooking you can have your sou-chef prepare the other ingredients (or you can turn down the  heat on the milk and take a few seconds away from the pot).  Thoroughly beat the eggs, and then gently combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla.  You want them thoroughly combined, but want to avoid the foam as much as possible.  It's actually not possible to have no foam, so don't sweat it.
5. After the milk is scalded, pour the hot milk into the egg mixture while stirring.
6. NOTE: Other recipes say that you should now strain this mixture through a fine strainer or cheese cloth... why bother?
7. Pour the custard into the ramekins.  If there's some foam left... drink it; you could even add a spot of rum and have some "nog".  That's just one of the perks of being the cook.
8. Fill the 9x13 with hot (not boiling) water so the water comes up to the same level as the egg mixture in the cups.
9. Place the baking dish in the center of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the custard is just set (it can still be a bit loose).  This is the extra step required when  making it from scratch over the boxed stuff.
10. Remove from the water bath and let cool.
11. Garnish with cinnamon and/or nutmeg as desired.

You can serve it any way you like it... still warm, room temperature, or chilled.