Rural Gardening: Offical Muffler Sulking Section (and other Various Chatter), 0 by DrDoolotz

DrDoolotz wrote:
For you Greenhouse_Gal, TWO recipes...(as previously featured on other silly threads) with photographic evidence of said second recipe added for your viewing pleasure.

Claire's Custard Pie (which has become the Divine Flan)

Sometimes I alter the recipe below slightly. I have reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup, and I have used 6 small eggs (because some of my hens lay little eggs!) and I also added 1 teaspoon of fresh ground nutmeg and eliminated the turbinado sugar topping, which to me makes it custard pie, rather than crème brûlée pie. Next time I am considering adding a splash of Amaretto...

Catscan has used cocoa instead of flour but says it needs tweaking. She also used Splenda instead of sugar.

Grease and flour a 10-inch, deep-dish pie pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the following ingredients into a blender and blend on low for about 30 seconds or until all ingredients look well mixed:

2 cups goat milk (can substitute regular milk)
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs

Pour into pie pan. Sprinkle with nutmeg, and gently sprinkle with turbinado sugar. The turbinado sugar will stay crunchy on top of the pie through the baking process and mimics the flame-kissed top of creme brulee. The batter will be quite runny, so take care when placing in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes. A sharp knife inserted into the center of the pie should come out clean, and the sliced area should stay open and not look watery inside.


Claire’s Addictive and Luverly Egg Custard for Individual Little Ramekin Cups

1.5 cups milk (375 mL) – you can use 2%, 1%, skim milk, goat milk, or even mix with half and half or cream!
1 cup water (250 mL)
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs (or up to 6 if you're using up banty eggs)

Heat the milk, water and sugar until quite hot, but NOT boiling - I usually do 4 minutes in the microwave. Stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and add vanilla. In a separate bowl, beat eggs well. Add a thin stream of the hot milk mixture into the eggs while whisking. (This heats up the egg mixture slowly, because if you suddenly add all the cold eggs to the hot milk, it can instantly cook the eggs and make the custard taste too eggy).

Once egg mixture has been heated by whisking, it can be poured into the milk mixture and blended well. Divide among 6 custard cups and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes in a water bath. (I boil the kettle and pour the hot water into my glass 9x13 dish and set the custard cups in that. The water only needs to be a half inch or so up the sides of the cups). (see attached picture)

Modifications:
Sometimes I use 1/2 cup of sugar instead, to cut back on the sugar a bit. Fewer calories! I have also tried using 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup honey. Oh yum!
Sometimes I add 2 tbsp of instant coffee and blend it in the hot milk for coffee custards.
Sometimes I use almond extract instead of the vanilla extract, or amaretto, or hazelnut extract, or coconut oil, etc. Any flavor you want really...
Optionally, grate in some freshly grated nutmeg and blend, or grate on top at cooking time.
If you feel decadent, you can drizzle some maple syrup on the top of the custard before eating. It’s also nice with fresh berries, etc.