The Remarkable Custard

The custard is a subcategory of egg cooking that, like the egg itself, is so versatile that understanding the way it works and what it can do will expand your range in the kitchen exponentially. We tend to think of custards as being sweet, but savory and salty custards are terrific starters or side dishes. Bread pudding is nothing more than bread that has soaked up a custard. Any cream soup can become a custard—just add eggs and serve at the same point in the meal with a crunchy garnish. A quiche is one of the most delicious savory custards known to humankind. A cheesecake is a custard enriched with cream cheese and sour cream. Vanilla sauce, sometimes called crème anglaise, is a custard you can pour; freeze it, and it becomes ice cream. A famous drink is simply a loose custard: eggnog. Some kinds of cake icings are custards. Expand the boundaries of your thinking, and you see that the cake itself is a custard to which flour has been added.