Recipe: Coconut Custard
This is a dairy free custard, but it does have egg yolks so not vegan. I use coconut butter/paste instead of coconut extract, but if that’s what you have in your pantry you can substitute.
This was more delicious than I expected it to be - the coconut flavours seem to mask the egginess of the custard somewhat.
You can’t rush custard or neglect it. Well you can - but you’ll end up with a pile of sweet scrambled eggs. It doesn’t take that long but it does need your focus.
Ingredients
- 400 mls can coconut milk
- 60 mls water
- 5 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 85 grams caster sugar
- 10 grams corn starch
- 5 mls vanilla extract
- 10 grams coconut butter/paste
Method
Place coconut milk in saucepan, heat over medium heat (do not boil).
In a bowl add egg yolks, water, corn starch and sugar. Whisk to mix.
Remove warmed coconut milk from stove, and slowly pour about a third of it into the bowl with the other ingredients. Whisk furiously and let it cool slightly.
Resist the temptation to whack it all in at once - you will need to slowly pour in the rest of the coconut milk while whisking. This is known as tempering the egg yolks.
Once the milk is whisked through the egg mix and you haven’t ended up with a scrambled mess, return all bowl ingredients back to the saucepan, and put over low heat on stove.
Whisk continuously until custard thickens, at which point remove from heat. Don’t be distracted and leave it to its own devices at this time - this leads to regret.
Add in the vanilla extract and the coconut butter. Mix.
Place in a bowl or container to cool - place a piece of plastic wrap over it so that it’s touching the top of the custard - this will help to prevent a skin forming on top.
Chill in fridge.
Notes: To get a lighter fluffier custard - chill a can of coconut cream overnight, open it and skim off the chilled coconut cream (leaving the coconut water behind). This can be whipped and folded through the custard.