Name: Crack the Code: Homemade Custard That’s Worth the Whisk
Prep time: 2 h 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Cuisine: English
Ingredients: 1 1/2 Cups Whole Milk; 1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream; 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Bean Paste or Pure Vanilla Extract; 6 Large Egg Yolks; 75 Grams Granulated Sugar/ Caster Sugar; 3 Tablespoon + 2 Teaspoons Cornstarch/ Cornflour

This English-style custard is rich, silky, and gently thickened on the stovetop with warm vanilla flavor running throughout. Made with milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, and a touch of cornstarch for stability, it cooks into a smooth, pourable custard that can be served warm or chilled. It's a classic British staple that adds a creamy, comforting finish to so many desserts.

close up of a bowl of vanilla bean custard on a light pink surface with a floral linen — Look at that silky, spoon-coating custard!

In America you have ice cream on top of the dessert, in England, you have custard on top. We grew up with Bird's Custard Powder, it is iconic, classic, and downright scrumptious. But since I write a food blog it was only a matter of time until I made my own vanilla custard recipe.

Recipe testing so you don't have to!

One weekend I made 6 different versions of this to find what my family felt was the perfect custard. A vanilla flavor but not overpowering, sweet but not too sweet, and creamy-smooth custard perfect hot or cold.

I was going after a Creme Anglaise rather than a pastry cream. But I wanted a thicker- English-style custard good for a trifle. I wanted it almost to be sliceable in a trifle. Not be so runny. So I added cornstarch to a more traditional Creme Anglaise that is more of a pourable custard for on top of desserts. You can most certainly make this recipe without the cornstarch but it will not be as thick. You should also be very careful as you cook the custard you must cook it on low heat to prevent the eggs from scrambling. The cornstarch stabilizes the eggs and helps prevent them from scrambling.

I started the recipe testing based on my pastry cream recipe, we love that for fruit tarts! Creme Patisserie also known as pastry cream is most often used to fill desserts, fruit tarts, choux pastry, and others. Creme Anglaise is more of a pourable style custard used to pour on top of desserts.

Featured Review

"This is my new go-to custard recipe! It's amazing. The result turned out just as described (not often can I say that about a blog recipe). This baking queen rules!"
Loretta

Jump to Recipe· 4.6 from 9 reviews

What You'll Need for Silky Custard

The ingredients you'll need are:

Vanilla Bean. I cut my vanilla bean in half and use the back of my knife to scrape the seeds out then add the whole bean to the milk as well. Then after steeping discard the vanilla bean pod. You can also use vanilla bean paste if you want. If you don't have either you can use vanilla extract but you won't get those gorgeous vanilla bean flecks.
Large Egg Yolks. I find the easiest way to separate egg yolks from egg whites is in my hands. Start with clean hands and crack the egg into your hand and let the white part drop through to a bowl. Make sure you remove the white chalza- the stringy white part attached to the yolk. Use your fingers to do this gently. Save your egg whites for amaretti cookies!
Cornstarch. Also known as corn flour this thickening agent helps the custard thicken nicely. I tried numerous recipes with just egg yolks as the thickener but found the corn starch helped stabilize the eggs in the custard which resulted in a silky smooth custard.

Because this is a thicker style custard would be great in a cake layer too. To make this more of a pourable-style custard reduce the cornstarch in the recipe to 1 tablespoon.

Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!

How to Make Custard-Warm, Whisk & Chill

vanilla beans and vanilla pods simmering in cream mixture in a metal pot on a light pink surface with a floral linen — In a saucepan heat the whole milk, cream, and vanilla bean pods, and vanilla bean.

egg yolks and sugar in a glass bowl on a light pink surface — In a saucepan heat the whole milk, cream, and vanilla bean pods, and vanilla bean.

cornstarch added to egg and sugar mixture in a glass bowl on a light pink surface — Stir in the cornstarch and mix for another minute to combine.

cornstarch mixed into egg yolk mixture in a glass bowl on a light pink surface — Stir in the cornstarch and mix for another minute to combine.

custard mixture cooking in a metal pot before thickening in a light pink surface — Once the milk mixture is warmed slowly add a little bit of the hot milk to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Add back to the pot to cook.

custard thickening as it cooks in a metal pot with a whisk mixing it on a light pink surface — The mixture will thicken up as it cooks.

spatula drawing an opening in custard once it has cooked all the way in a metal pot on a light pink surface — The mixture will thicken up as it cooks.

vanilla custard in a metal bowl with plastic wrap added on top on a light pink surface — Pour custard into an air-tight container, place plastic wrap on top, and push directly on top this helps prevent a thick skin from forming.

Don't skip on letting the custard chill in the fridge for at least two hours or up to three days.

metal bowl with chilled custard re whisked together on a light pink surface — After the custard has set it will be thick in one big blob so you'll want to whisk it to cream it up again. You'll have to give it a good whisk.

If you prefer a looser custard you can always add a little more milk to loosen it. But we like it thick for our English Trifle Recipe. I also use it to pour on top of my Bread and Butter Pudding. Or I enjoy it on its own warm with sliced bananas.

metal bowl of custard on a light pink surface

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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