Let’s talk custard! Ok, so custard can be difficult. But this gluten-free baked custard with grilled bananas might change your mind.
In this recipe, I use the BASIC custard ingredients, then fry up some bananas to top off this baked custard in the end. It’s spectacular! And an excellent dessert to show off your skills and talents ๐ Ok so custard is not as hard as you think when it comes to baking it. There are a few components you’ll need to have. One is an egg. The other is some sugar. And the other? Milk. Complicated? Right?
There are many different ways to make a custard with these three ingredients, but the basic ratio for the classic baked custard recipe is about 1 cup of milk to 1 large egg and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Many recipes call for more egg, or possibly even more sugar. But I feel that sticking to this 1:1:1 ratio works quite well. The thing you’ll have to get to know is your oven here. All oven temperatures and times vary within each home. Figuring out how the heat distributes at the 350 degree mark will help you in the long run. It may take a few goes at it to get the correct results, but with time, you’ll get it! My oven cooked this baked custard perfectly when I let it cook for just under an hour at 350 degrees. It was still a bit jiggly when it was finished.
You want to make sure the water bath is in the oven the entire time. While the custard bakes, the water inside your sided baking sheet will begin to evaporate. Resulting in a loss of H2O. When you don’t have enough H2O, your custard will begin to overheat and the outside will cook faster than the center. So, peek in the oven to see if the water level has gone down. If it has, simply add more water to the baking sheet. When you add it, try and heat it up a bit before pouring in.ย I don’t know what it is but the grilled bananas cooked in the liqueur just make this dish taste so wonderful. They’re caramelized and bursting with flavor and the bananas really just compliment this baked custard.
You have got to make this dessert for Valentine’s Day! You’ll be a showoff, but a proud showoff. It’s really fun to make and honestly, it’s desserts like these that I love most. Huge cakes with too many ingredients are just so overdone in my opinion. So, this is a break from all of those! Plus, I’m not a huge gluten-free cake fan. Alot of my desserts require very few ingredients,ย are not very large, and usually consist of some sort of chocolate ๐ Let me know how this dish turns out for you when you make it!! I can’t wait to hear!
Baked Custard With Grilled Bananas
A perfectly classic custard treat with liqueured and caramelized bananas.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons sugar cane
- 1 cup hot milk hot, but not boiling
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Spicely is gluten-free
- pinch of nutmeg Spicely is gluten-free
- small pinch of kosher salt
- 1 ripe banana I used an overripe one & it was great!
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1-2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 small splash Irish Cream Liqueur Carolans is gluten-free
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a sided baking sheet, pour water in until it reaches about 1/4 to halfway up the sides. This will be the 'water bath' you will cook the baked custard in. Place the baking sheet with water into the oven when you preheat. The water will heat while the oven heats. You want a heated bath when cooking starts.
Now, add egg, vanilla and sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk until ingredients are smooth.
SLOWLY pour hot milk into egg mixture, whisking constantly. You MUST pour very very slowly while still whisking! If you pour the hot into the egg mixture all at once, it will result in cooked egg. So, you want to SLOWLY bring up the temperature of the egg mixture by drizzling in the milk very slowly while whisking. This is known as tempering.
Once all is combined and mixed thoroughly, pour mixture into a 16 ounce CorningWare French white baking dish. Top with a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Place dish with custard in the center of the sided baking sheet with water in it. Then close the oven and let the custard cook for about an hour. Watch for doneness before this amount of time. You'll know when its done when the center is jiggly. A knife can be inserted to check for cleanness, but do NOT insert in the center. Insert the knife off to the side, before the edges. Once finished, immediately remove CorningWare dish from oven and place on counter to cool. Refrigerate custard for approximately 2 or more hours, or until completely chilled.
While custard bakes, make grilled banana topping.
Heat a skillet with butter on medium heat.
Peel banana, then slice lengthwise into three parts.
Cut all three pieces then in half.
Sprinkle brown sugar and liqueur into pan then quickly lay banana layers into pan. They will sizzle and stick.
They will be fragile! Let them cook on each side for approximately 2-3 minutes or until a crusty brown coating forms. Be mindful not to let them burn. Flip them carefully or they will become gooey! You will want a good spatula that scrapes well. If skillet gets too dry, add a bit more butter.
When finished, place banana pieces flat and directly onto parchment paper.
Let cool for a few minutes, then place in fridge to cool until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, top chilled custard with grilled bananas, then use two spoons in the dish. Perfect for Valentine's Day!
NOTE: Traditional baked custard does not have the consistency of pudding. It is more textured. A pudding consistency would be a pastry cream, or stirred custard.
NOTE: Oven temps and times will vary.
Sounds delicious. Can’t wait till it gets a little warmer to go to the store and get bananas.
Yes! I will bring you some ๐