This dessert is a pain in the ass to make. I knew this going into it, but it ended up being even worse than I imagined when all was said and done. Perhaps because the first few steps didn’t start out too bad I got a false sense of ease. It was when everything was assembled and I was getting read to bake the custard that stuff started to get complicated.
The directions ask you to secure foil tightly around two edges of the pan. Which would be possible if you hadn’t poured boiling water into the pan. I burned my hands trying to press the foil against the edges of the pan! I decided to skip that step and just loosely let the foil rest on my roasting pan. (This didn’t seem to harm anything.)
Later when I was attempting to wrap the custard cups individually in foil, I also burned my hands.
Quite frankly, the end product wasn’t good enough for me to suffer third-degree burns on my hands a second time. It’s basically custard that’s not overly sweet and tastes slightly of coconut. If you decide to try this recipe, do so with care. And maybe have an aloe plant on hand for your burns.
ingredients.
- 1 c. unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 c. heavy whipping cream
- 2 whole vanilla beans
- 1/4 c. granulated sugar
- 5 yolks plus 1 whole egg
directions.
- Set six (4-oz) custard cups in a roasting pan lined with a single layer of kitchen towelling.
- Add coconut milk and heavy cream to a sauce pot.
- Cut the 2 vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape out the inside seeds with a small knife. Add seeds and beans to pot. Sprinkle half the sugar over the mixture but do not stir. Set over medium heat, and bring up to a scald (tiny bubbles form around the edge). Cover and let sit 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set a pot of water on a burner and let it come to a boil. Place egg yolks and egg in a mixing bowl. Whisk eggs together about 20 seconds to smooth out. Add remaining sugar and whisk about 30 seconds to incorporate.
- Slowly add hot vanilla cream mixture to eggs while whisking until fluffy and incorporated. Remove vanilla beans then pour mixture back into pot, place over medium-low heat, and mix with a heat proof spatula, 3 to 4 minutes , covering entire bottom of pot with the spatula.
- Keep mixing until custard reaches 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer.
- Immediately ladle custard into prepared custard cups. Pour the hot water (it should just have come to a boil) carefully around the custards to come halfway up the molds. Cover pan with a piece of aluminum foil, tightly on 2 opposite ends but leaving the other 2 sides unfastened to allow condensation to escape.
- Place in oven for 15 minutes. Turn once and continue baking 10 to 15 minutes until custards just jiggle lightly in the center when tapped on the side of the custard cup. Remove custards from water bath. Cover each with foil, poking 4 to 5 holes in the top. Let cool this way at room temperature. (Perforated foil will prevent skin from forming but not allow condensation to drip into the custard.)
- When custards are cool, cover individually with plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator overnight. Serve the next day.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 