Steamed Milk Custard

I feel exhausted after a full weekend of seminars.  Saturday was very long and intense; it started at 9am and finished at 6pm, definitely much more tiring than a full working day.  By the end of the day I had a splitting headache that caused me to be bed bound for the rest of the evening.  Following a good 10 hours sleep curled in a foetal position I felt as fresh as a daisy.  The next day on Sunday was much easier as I sussed out the reason of the headache.  I was sat right on the far edge of the conference room so I had to turn my head to the left to see the projector screen.  So to avoid another nasty headache I turned my seat all the way round so that I could look directly at the screen instead of keeping my head at an angle for the whole day.  Just a little change can make such a difference.

So to reward myself for a hard working weekend I wanted something sweet but not too unhealthy.  Ice cream was out of the question as the temperature outside had dropped below 10 degrees.  So a warm dessert of some sort was needed.  A chocolate pudding was very tempting but as I'm supposed to be eating healthy to lose some weight before my wedding next year, chocolate was not the answer.  A warm bowl of custard seemed to fit the bill.

I was not craving after the traditional English custard that is runny and is eaten with some sort of crumble or  pie, but a hot steaming bowl of steamed custard that's just about sweet enough to curb my craving.  My favourite steamed custard is flavoured with ginger juice, it warms up your belly straight away.  However I did not fancy juicing a ginger for hours on my mini grater (should really invest in a juicer!).  So plain old steamed milk custard will do for now.

The hot creamy custard was not too rich and was sufficiently sweet without overpowering the flavours. As I made two bowls, my B and I devoured one big bowl straight out of the steamer and chilled the other bowl for laters after dinner.  We ate the second bowl cold and I have to say, the flavours melded together even better.  I probably prefer the steamed milk custard chilled compared to warm but both are scrummy! Give it a go, it is a very light dessert that will not disappoint and so easy to make.

Steamed Milk Custard  (serves 2-4)

• 4 eggs (beaten)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• 100g rock sugar

Mix the beaten eggs with the milk gradually.  Set aside.

Heat up 1 cup of water in a saucepan and add the rock sugar to dissolve it.  Once dissolved, allow to cool down.

When the sugar mixture has cooled down, add it to the egg mixture.  Mix it in gradually to incorporate. Drain the mixture through a sieve to separate the impurities.  Collect the smooth custard mixture in a bowl below the sieve.  Do this slowly to avoid spillage.

Divide the mixture between 2-4 bowls (depending on size) and cover the tops of the bowls with cling film before steaming to avoid water vapour.  Steam over gentle heat in a steamer for 25 minutes until set. 

The custard can be served hot or cold.