Nutmeg Egg Custard - Stovetop Magic

Many of us in Grenada don't have access to ovens. Although I'm one of the few that do have access, I still favor making desserts by stove top- it's quick, simple, and uses less gas.  Custards are so delicious and can be made into a wide array of flavors.  You can make them as sweet and as rich as you'd like with no problem at all.  All you need is a fry pan, custard cups, milk, eggs, sugar, and flavoring of your liking.  Since I'm somewhat of a health conscious person, my custard is simple and relies mainly on spices to bring out flavor.  I will post another custard recipe in the future for the ones that like a richer, sweeter custard.

Looking for crust?  Try Crushing a couple of graham crackers, coconut cookies, or ginger bread cookies into crumbs and add in a little butter (and sugar if you please) to get them moist.  Press into the bottom of an extra custard cup and scoop custard right in.   

Ingredients:

• 1 cup full cream or 2% milk ( I used 2.7% fat boxed milk)
• 5 tbs white sugar
• 2 eggs
• a little under 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• a little under 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• dash salt
• nutmeg syrup for custard bottoms (you can make your own caramel using water and sugar. I use syrup for the sake of simplicity and it stores better in the fridge)

Directions
1.  Heat milk in a pot.  Medium low heat. Add sugar. Stir to dissolve.  Do not boil.  Turn off as soon as you see little foamy bubbles on the sides of the pot. ~3 min.
2. In a bowl, whisk egg in a circular motion without lifting whisk to prevent bubbles from forming.  This will help create a smooth texture.  Strain egg through a sieve to get egg blobs and bubbles out or you can take a large spoon and scoop them out (I like this method because I don't lose too much egg as I do when I use a strainer).
3.  Slowly add milk into eggs, gently stirring constantly to release heat (prevents scrambling of egg).
4. add nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. mix well.  
5. lightly butter custard cups. Add ~1tsp nutmeg syrup into each cup. Pour custard mixture evenly amongst custard cups. Cover each with a small piece of foil.  Make sure not to make foil too long or else steam will get trapped and custard will get wet.  Press foil against edges of cup to seal well.
6.  In a fry pan, place a small piece of cloth in the middle (I used a bandana. you can use a hand towel).  Place custard cups in pan.  Pour water in to come up halfway up the custard cups to create a water bath, a technique used to help keep temp. down otherwise cooking the custard with high heat will result in an unevenly cooked custard.  Cover and bring up to heat.  Place heat to lowest setting.  Make sure to not boil. Simmer for ~12 min or until middle part wiggles a little.  To check if custard is finished, stab in the middle. knife should come out clean.

7. Eat warm or Cool and chill in fridge for a couple of hours (I like mine chilled because the flavors infuse better and texture becomes creamy).

*press butter knife all around against side of cup to help custard come out clean or give the cup a little tap on the counter to loosen it up.
*You can buy custard cups at Foodfair (4 for ~23 EC) or the Hardware store next door to IGA.

*Click HERE for a cooking dictionary.