Wine Custard Recipes

SIMPLE CUSTARD

Steps:

• Cook and stir milk, vanilla extract, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove mixture from heat before it comes to a boil.
• Whisk eggs, sugar, and cornstarch together in a bowl until sugar dissolves.
• Set saucepan back over low heat. Pour in egg mixture slowly, whisking constantly, until custard thickens enough to coat the bottom of a spoon, 5 to 10 minutes.

WINE GELATIN WITH CUSTARD

Steps:

• WINE GELATIN: In a 2-quart bowl add 1 cup cold water.
• Sprinkle gelatin over water and stir to soften and slightly dissolve gelatin.
• To a measuring cup, add lemon juice and enough water to make 2 cups and add sugar, and heat until sugar is dissolved.
• Pour mixture over gelatin.
• Add port wine.
• If you want a little more color, add a drop of red food coloring.
• Stir to mix well and pour into and 8x8-inch glass baking dish.
• Cover and chill.
• Before serving, cut into 3/4-inch cubes by cutting it as a checkerboard.
• Using a spatula, release cubes from sides and bottom of glass dish.
• NOTE: Amount of sugar for gelatin mixture will be determined by the sweetness of wine.
• CUSTARD: In saucepan, mix sugar and flour together, stirring to mix well.
• Stir milk and eggs together.
• Gradually pour egg mixture into sugar mixture, stirring well.
• Heat mixture over medium-high heat, constantly stirring with a whisk until it thickens enough to coat a spoon, about 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
• Cool slightly or chill.
• TO SERVE: Spoon cubes of Wine Gelatin in stemmed glasses.
• Spoon Custard on top and sprinkle with nutmeg.

POACHED PEARS IN RED WINE WITH VANILLA CUSTARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare the vanilla custard sauce ahead of time to allow it to cool before serving.
• Cut a small amount from the ridges at the bottom of each pear so the end is flat and the pears will stand upright. With a small paring knife, remove the core from the bottom of each pear by turning the knife around and around until you have whittled out the core. Peel the pears, leaving the stems intact.
• In a 4-quart pot, pour in the bottle of wine. Fill the wine bottle with water and then add the water to the pot with the wine so you have a 50/50 mix of wine and water. Add sugar, cinnamon stick and lemon rind and bring to a boil.
• Gently add pears and cover with a dish or pan so they stay submerged under the liquid.
• Gently boil for 40 minutes or until tender. Use a small skewer or tooth pick to see if they are done.
• Remove pears to a plate with a slotted spoon, cover and refrigerate.
• Bring the liquid back to a boil and simmer for 50-60 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to one cup. The finished wine sauce will thicken as it reduces. Let the sauce cool slightly.
• To serve, spoon wine sauce onto the bottom of a small flat dish or bowl, add drops of vanilla custard sauce to the wine sauce (if you'd like, use a toothpick and make decorative swirls). Place a pear in the center of the dish and serve.

WINE CUSTARD

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in a double boiler and set over (but not touching) boiling water.
• Cook, beating mixture constantly and vigorously with a wire whisk, until custard thickens, about 10 minutes.
• Refrigerate and serve cool.
• Enjoy!

SWEET-WINE CUSTARD TART

Steps:

• For crust
• Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Blend in enough water by tablespoons to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball. Flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. trim overhang to 1/2 inch (reserve dough scraps). Fold overhang in; press dough firmly to create double-thick sides. Freeze crust 10 minutes.
• Line crust with foil. Fill crust with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until crust sets, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and beans and bake crust until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer crust to rack and cool completely. Gently cover any cracks in crust with small bits of reserved dough and press lightly to smooth. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
• For Filling:
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix sugar and cornstarch in medium bowl. Add 3 eggs, whipping cream and dessert wine and whisk until filling is well blended. Place crust on baking sheet. Pour filling into crust. Bake until filling sets and top browns, about 20 minutes. Transfer tart to rack and cool 15 minutes.
• Remove tart pan sides. Transfer tart to platter. Serve tart warm.

HONEY CUSTARD

Steps:

• Beat eggs until light. Add honey and salt. Continue beating until well blended. Scald milk. Slowly pour milk over egg mixture, stirring constantly. Add lemon extract and orange rind. Pour in buttered custard cups. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. Set in a shallow pan filled with an inch of hot water. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes or until set.

FLAN PATISSIER (FRENCH CUSTARD PIE)

Steps:

• For the pastry, combine flour, butter, potato starch, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until it has the consistency of sand.
• Combine milk and egg yolk in a small bowl. Add to the flour mixture and mix by hand until the mixture is evenly moistened. Do not overwork the pastry. Wrap pastry dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.
• For the filling, combine milk, 1/2 of the sugar and split and scraped vanilla bean in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat once milk boils.
• While the milk is heating, whisk eggs and remaining sugar in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in cream and cornstarch, and whisk until well blended.
• Whisk egg mixture into the cooled milk, stirring constantly.
• Return everything back into the saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat, whisking constantly to prevent eggs from setting. As soon as custard begins to thicken, remove from heat and whisk constantly for a few minutes while it cools.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Remove pastry from the refrigerator. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface into a circle large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the springform pan. Line a springform pan and sides with the pastry and pierce several times with a fork. Store in the refrigerator until filling is cooled down enough.
• Briefly beat cooled pastry cream with an electric mixer to smooth it out. Pour into the pastry shell and even out the surface with a spatula.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Increase temperature to 470 degrees F (240 degrees C) for an additional 10 minutes to brown the surface, making sure the custard does not burn. To speed up browning the top you can also place on a rack closer to the top.
• Remove pie from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate cooled custard pie for 4 hours before serving.
• To unmold, run the blade of a knife along the inside of the mold, to loosen the flan. Then carefully remove the ring off from the springform pan.