Eggs, milk, sugar, flour and flavorings: the classic custard recipe brings together simple ingredients, to create one of the most popular cake fillings (and not only) in the world. Ready in just a few minutes, this cream can be kept in the fridge for a few days. The big advantage is that everyone gets together at the table. However it can happen that, due to intolerances or alternative diets such as vegan or low glycemic index, the custard becomes off limits.
Don't worry: with Sale & Pepe you can make the custard without eggs or milk, sugar, flour. Here are all the tips to follow!
Custard: the traditional recipe
Invented by Monsieur François Massialot at the end of the sixteenth century, the custard conquers the hearts – and above all the palates – of the French nobles of the time. The recipe makes its first appearance in the book Le cuisinier roïal et bourgeois, published in 1691, together with that of crème brûlée is sugar paste. The success is enormous and here is that this recipe reaches us, almost equal to the original. The main difference is the removal of the use of butter or ox fat from the list of ingredients.
For prepare the custard you will need half a liter of milk. Pour it into a saucepan, where you will also add an engraved vanilla pod: in this way the aroma will be creamy. Bring the mixture to a boil. Meanwhile, separate the 4 egg yolks from the egg whites, which you can later retrieve by preparing meringues. Whip the egg yolks with 80 grams of sugar: you can do this using an electric or manual whisk, or by trusting an electric mixer. Work the mixture until it becomes puffy and frothy.
Add a pinch of salt and 40 grams of flour. Mix the cream until it reaches the desired density. After having filtered it from the residues of the vanilla pod, pour the milk slowly and dilute the egg mixture, stirring vigorously.
Take the cream and cook it in a saucepan over a very low heat, without ever stopping to mix with a wooden spoon. When the mixture begins to soak and thickens, remove from heat and let the cream cool in a large bowl. Once ready, keep it in the fridge: to avoid it coagulates on the surface, put a sheet of film in contact with the cream.
Why change the traditional recipe
The recipe for custard is perfect as it is, but alas it is not suitable for everyone. People affected by diabetes, celiac, lactose intolerant or supporters of a cruelty free diet and therefore vegan they don't get along with this preparation. However, for each of them there is a variation on the theme that is equally delicious and tasty.
The recipe for vegan custard
To prepare a sustainable vegan custard starts with replacing the granulated sugar with whole cane sugar: checks that the crops are traced and recognized by the organizations that deal with eco-compatible environmental development.
Remove the eggs from the recipe, using half a liter of vegetable milk (you can use soy or almond, oat or rice), 60 grams of starch; a pinch of vanillin, a piece of untreated lemon peel. To give the cream the traditional yellow color, use the turmeric or a pinch of saffron.
Gluten-free pastry cream recipe
In the traditional recipe of custard, flour is used, which is a very forbidden food in celiac diets. To avoid the side effects of gluten intolerance, simply remove the wheat flour from the list of ingredients, replacing it with one of the many alternatives on the market.
You can range from potato starch, which we used in vegan custard or some starches (corn or rice, for example). You can also use the hemp flour, the buckwheat flour and even that of quinoa. All these mixtures are gluten-free because they are not obtained from cereals.
How to make custard without eggs
To do the custard without eggs it is sufficient to follow the procedure adopted to prepare the vegan variant. In this case, however, you can keep the granulated sugar and cow's milk. Remember that the addition of turmeric or saffron – yellow spices – is recommended for aesthetic reasons but you can also serve a perfectly white cream.
How to make custard without milk, cream or butter
According to the recipe of Monsieur Massialot the cream had to be worked also with butter, a sprinkling of green pepper and, even using beef fat. However, butter has an important function in this preparation. Added in a quantity equal to 3-5% of the total weight, this ingredient supports the cream at + 4 ° C (in the fridge) and is used as preservative thanks to the fat it contains. It also enriches the flavor of the cream and its creaminess.
However this ingredient can be suppressed, as well as the cream, used to make the cream more full-bodied (to get the same effect, just add more flour or potato starch). The cream can therefore be easily replaced by milk, which in turn has numerous substitutes.
As with vegan custard, we choose a vegetable alternative to cow's milk: they are on the market rice, soy, oat, coconut, almond milk. In these last two cases the custard will acquire a very particular aroma.
How to make custard without sugar
To make the custard without sugar, replace the semolina or cane cream with two teaspoons of stevia. It is a substance extracted from a very widespread plant in Brazil, from which a zero-calorie syrup is obtained.
How to make custard without flour
To do the custard without flour it is sufficient to use an alternative thickener, such as corn or rice starch, or the very popular one potato starch, precious ally in many confectionery preparations.
How to make custard without vanilla or lemon peel
In the traditional recipe of custard we read that the milk is brought to a boil together with an engraved vanilla pod. Other recipes focus on the use of lemon or orange peel. These flavors can be replaced by aromatic ampoules alcohol-based, widely used in confectionery.
You can also decide to replace the classic citrus and vanilla scents with essences with lavender: you will certainly get a very original result.
How to use it to fill light cakes
Vegan custard is a perfect ingredient to complete tasty light desserts. For example, from the Apulian tradition we come to the rescue sporcamuss, squares of puff pastry used as a sandwich to enclose a soft layer of cream. You can also use phyllo dough and custard to prepare gourmands stuffed rolls. Or you can serve it in one pastry cream pie and fruit or, simply, in a cup, as tasty spoon dessert.
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