"custard" news and stories

Happy Vanilla Custard Day!

This pudding-textured substance dates back to the Middle Ages, when, much like today, custard was used as a filling for pies, tarts and the like, or enjoyed alone, spiced with seasonings from vanilla and beyond. The sweetened combination of eggs and milk can be baked in the oven or cooked stovetop, the most popular variety of which are flan and creme caramel.

Although the ingredient components are simple enough, the preparation requires some precision: Custards must only undergo gentle heat to avoid curdling -- though candy thermometers can help avoid this, provided that the custard is removed from heat when it reaches 170 degrees.

What's your favorite custard recipe? Share links in the comments!

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Crème Anglaise is a classic French dessert sauce that has a distinct vanilla flavor. Try this shortcut for a list-minute dessert.

Sweet corn custard. Photo: High/Low Food/Drink.

First, we were reminiscing over cartons of fresh-picked berries. Now we're swooning over seasonal sweet corn custard. That a typically savory grain could be made into such a sweet-sounding dessert is not unusual. (After all, who hasn't -- knowingly or not -- indulged in a little high-fructose corn syrup?) But the fact that it was whipped into such a smooth, butter-colored custard is a rare treat, indeed.

This multiscoop serving was captured by Andrea from High/Low Food/Drink after a late-night run to pick up a pint from restaurateur Danny Meyer's iconic New York Shake Shack. Though Andrea admits the yellow kernels were added at home "for artistic effect" only, they pop beautifully against the blue bowl, making the sweets look all the sweeter.

[Via High/Low Food/Drink]

I think perhaps I have been living under a rock for the last 30 years of my life. Because until last Sunday, I had never heard of the awe inspiring Carl's and I had never tasted frozen custard. First, some history on how I discovered this delicious gem. My husband and I decided to take a road trip to Fredericksburg, Virginia. The hour long drive was inspired by the opening of a Sonic Drive-In. I know this may sound silly to some, but I am originally from Texas, and Sonic is my lifeblood. Since moving to D.C. in 2000 I have desperately longed for a Sonic within driving distance.

After stuffing ourselves with Sonic's cheeseburgers, cherry cokes, tater tots, and a coconut cream pie shake, we thought it might be prudent to do some walking. We made our way to charming historic downtown Fredericksburg, which is filled with a multitude of antique and junk shops. After perusing the shops and walking off our calorie fest we decided it was time to head back to D.C. On our way out of town we saw Carl's, or should I say, the line to Carl's. We slowed down to see what could be causing this group of about sixty people to stand in the hot sun. One look at the top of the building and we knew this place was special. I slowed down and my husband grabbed a place in line as I found parking.

No. that isn't a typo in the title. Yesterday was March 14th, which, in abbreviated form, is 3.14 (feel free to add the 1592653589793238... if you so desire), better known to us non-mathematicians simply as Pi.

As is usually the tradition here at Slashfood, we are willing to turn just about any circumstance into something to celebrate, so why should Pi Day be any exception? Fortunately for us, the blogosphere was full of others who jumped on this bandwagon as well. In fact, Kitchen Parade collected submissions all week, resulting in dozens of mouth-watering pie recipes all linked up on one page.

So without further ado, following are my top eight favorites, which I will be putting on my "need to make" list. (Corresponding photos can be found in the gallery at the bottom of the page after the jump.)