Rum Custard

This is definitely another basic you need in your dessert armament because a warm veil of custard will cover a myriad of sins. Churn it, and magically it transforms into ice cream. You see how need is not an exaggeration? As with a crème pâtissière, you can make this using a good ol’ pot on the stove, but the margin between success and disaster is drastically reduced if you employ the mod-con microwave. Oh, the insistence in most custard-making methodology of having to whisk like mad whilst slowly pouring the hot cream into the egg mixture is an urban myth; once the yolks are whisked with sugar, they are ‘blanched’ and hence stable. In the case of crème pâtissière, this is even more so because of the added cornflour. Emmanuel Mollois taught me that!

MAKES ABOUT 625 ML (21½ FL OZ/2½ CUPS)

INGREDIENTS

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) thin (pouring) OR thickened (whipping) cream

6 egg yolks

50 g (1¾ oz/scant ¼ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste OR vanilla extract OR vanilla essence

60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) rum (brandy, Cointreau and Frangelico liqueur are good alternatives)

METHOD

Microwave the cream in a medium heatproof bowl for about 3 minutes on the highest setting. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until pale and thick, then pour into the hot cream. Whisk well, then microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk well once more, repeating this process until the custard thickens enough to easily coat the back of a wooden spoon without running off immediately.

Add the rum and stir to combine. If you want to turn this into ice cream, chill completely (overnight is best), then churn with an ice-cream maker following the manufacturer’s instructions.

If you are worried you’ve overdone it and it looks like it’s splitting, immediately bung it all into a blender, whizz it for a few seconds and it should come together. If not, then you’ve really murdered the thing and can either eat it regardless, seeing as it’ll still be yummy, albeit with a slightly dodgy texture, or start again from scratch.

NOTE

When making any kind of custard, you must immediately and quickly whisk the yolks or whole eggs and sugar as soon as they are combined. If not, the sugar ‘pickles’ the yolks unevenly, which will result in a lumpy custard.