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By the 19th century, custard - boiled, baked or steamed - was a popular dessert. People liked custard tarts and custard was poured over puddings such as treacle sponge. The famous cook, Mrs Beeton, included the art of egg-custard-making in her popular cookery books. In those days, making custard was a delicate operation. If the custard was over-heated, the mixture formed lumps and then burned. When custard powder was invented, custard-making became much easier.
Custard powder was - and still is - sold in tins. You need only 2 tablespoons of powder, mixed to a paste with 2 tablespoons of sugar and a little milk. Another half-litre of milk is heated to almost boiling point and then added and whisked into the custard paste. To complete the thickening, the custard is returned to the pan and slowly stirred until just boiling. Result: perfect custard.
Custard powder contains no eggs, so how does it thicken? The answer lies in the powder itself. Custard powder is made up of cornflour, salt and annatto (a natural yellowish colouring). The cornflour is the thickening agent. If it is mixed with hot milk, the cornflour paste forms a "gel", or custard.
In Norman times, a "crustarde" was a custard tart, filled with savouries and eggs. The word "crustarde" came from the French word crouste, meaning "crust".
In medieval England, custards were more like quiche, packed with meat and fish and covered with solidified egg. Custards were used to preserve food in a tasty form that was easy to transport. In medieval kitchens, eggs were curdled with wine or ale to form "caudles", thick custard drinks served at breakfast or supper time.
In Elizabethan times, custard tarts were called "tartstuff" and contained a thick, pulpy mix of fruit and egg.
In the late 17th century, custards were served separately from their pastry cases for the first time, in special custard cups. A century later, tea, wine and the yolks of four eggs were heated and served up with nutmeg and sugar.
By the 19th century, custard - boiled, baked or steamed - was a popular dessert. People liked custard tarts and custard was poured over puddings such as treacle sponge. The famous cook, Mrs Beeton, included the art of egg-custard-making in her popular cookery books. In those days, making custard was a delicate operation. If the custard was over-heated, the mixture formed lumps and then burned. When custard powder was invented, custard-making became much easier.
Custard has its own sweet place in British folklore: the Custard Winds of Whitby are so called because cold easterly winds tend to blow on Easter Sunday, when, traditionally, custard was served.
Mr Bird flies in
If Mrs Beeton could jump forward in time to a 1990s custard-making session, she would find changes. Custard powder is eggless, thanks to Albert Bird of Birmingham. He invented the powder in 1821 because his wife was allergic to eggs. Mrs Beeton's method of whisking eggs and milk, then steaming the mix until it thickened, was replaced by a quicker way.
Custard powder was - and still is - sold in tins. You need only 2 tablespoons of powder, mixed to a paste with 2 tablespoons of sugar and a little milk. Another half-litre of milk is heated to almost boiling point and then added and whisked into the custard paste. To complete the thickening, the custard is returned to the pan and slowly stirred until just boiling. Result: perfect custard.
The science of thickening
Custard powder contains no eggs, so how does it thicken? The answer lies in the powder itself. Custard powder is made up of cornflour, salt and annatto (a natural yellowish colouring). The cornflour is the thickening agent. If it is mixed with hot milk, the cornflour paste forms a "gel", or custard.
It is important that the hot milk is at just the right temperature. If you could look at the milk protein under a microscope, you would see the strands of protein becoming twisted and warped as they are heated. This is called "denaturing". The strands form a mesh which catches the cornflour gel. When that happens, the custard thickens. If cold or tepid milk is added to the paste, it will not thicken, no matter how long you go on heating it.
The right mix
The catering business uses a different mix to make custard in large quantities. It contains dried milk powder so water is added, and the mixture heated, simplifying the process. Microwaving can create hot custard in seconds.
The Romans made their own form of custard, which used egg to bind the ingredients together. Another method was to "fry" the custard in oil.
Ask an adult to help you make Roman custard. Mix 4 eggs with 300ml milk and 25ml oil. Ask the adult to pour a little oil into a thin pan and to bring the oil to sizzling point. Then add the custard mixture. Cook it only on one side, then turn it out on to a round dish. Pour honey over the mixture and serve it with a sprinkle of pepper.It's thickening
Traditional custards are made with egg, sugar and milk. Instant custards are made with custard powder, sugar and milk. Is there a common thickening agent in both types?
If traditional custard is made without sugar, it thickens. But if you leave out the egg, the milk will not thicken. This means eggs are the thickening agent.
Custard powder, however, will thicken without sugar. But the custard powder does not contain egg. So the thickening agent must be something in the powder.
Using small quantities of each ingredient you can test for the thickening agent yourself by following the steps below. In each case you will leave out one ingredient. An adult must supervise the heating.
Mrs Beeton's egg custards relied on changes in the egg-whites in order to thicken. The whites of an egg contain protein which is made up of strands. When the strands are heated, they twist and change structure, or "denature". this new structure combines with milk and sugar to thicken.
When using custard powder, the milk must be heated to just below boiling point to "denature" the milk protein strands.
Custard crimes
It is very funny when clowns throw custard pies at each other in films or at the circus. But the pies no longer contain real custard. Instead they are filled with a shaving-foam mixture which makes a lot of mess but is easier to clean up.
Copyright Guardian Newspapers, Limited Nov 13, 1992