Thicken custard on stove – Pour the egg/milk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk mixture. Then place it on a medium-low stove (or low, if your stove is strong), whisking constantly but leisurely, to ensure the base doesn’t catch. At first the mixture will be watery but after about 2 to 3 minutes as the it starts to heat up, you will suddenly feel the custard starting to thicken. Such a satisfying moment!!
Big lazy bubbles – Once the custard starts thickening, the next thing you are looking for is big, fat lazy bubbles popping up on the surface which indicates the custard is thick enough. Pause stirring for a few seconds to check if you have bubbles (see video).
20 seconds whisking – Once you see the lazy bubbles, keep whisking for another 20 seconds on the stove, then remove it from the heat.
Thick and creamy custard! This photo shows how the custard should look at this stage: Thick and creamy, it should leave ribbons on the surface when drizzled but still be pourable (see below for good visuals, or video).
BUTTER, STRAINING AND COOLING
Enrich with butter – This is a FRENCH custard tart, so it should come as no surprise that we’re sneaking some butter in here to enrich the custard!
Strain – Pass the custard through a fine mesh strainer. This is to remove any larger chunks of vanilla that were loosened from the beans.
Press through all the custard and be sure to scrape the base of the strainer well. Then lick that spatula clean. Yes that’s an instruction – don’t waste a drop of that precious custard! 😂
Custard thickness – This is what the custard should look like at this stage. You can tell by looking at the surface how the custard is thick and creamy.
