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Delicious, nourishing egg custard made the traditional way, loaded with healthy fats for your creamy enjoyment as the ultimate comfort food.
Egg custard pudding was my favorite treat growing up.
I usually made a couple of bowls a week at my Grandparents’ house, who lived not far down the road.
My Grandfather, also a huge egg custard fan, and I would happily enjoy a bowl while sitting in his favorite chair, watching baseball on the rabbit-eared black and white TV in the living room.
Egg custard was basically the only thing I could cook in my middle school years, and it didn’t really get much better until I had kids!
The reason I learned how to make this one dish at my Grandparents’ house at such an early age was my nearly constant craving for eggs, which were rarely served in my own home.
I have no idea why I craved eggs so much – I don’t crave them at all anymore probably because I get so many good fats elsewhere in my diet and eggs are often on the menu.
I think these tween cravings were likely because the wholesome fats in the yolk provided such excellent nourishment at such a fast-growing and hormonally charged time of life.
In my opinion, egg custard is a great first dish to teach your children (along with scrambled eggs). When you skip the white sugar in most versions and substitute unprocessed, whole cane sugar or dark maple syrup instead, the flavor even resembles flan!
If your children are tweens or teens and still haven’t shown much interest in cooking (this is an important life skill to teach!), haul them into the kitchen and show them how to whip up a bowl of egg custard or another healthy dessert recipe that might interest them.
Be sure to serve each bowl with a spoonful of homemade whipped cream on top.
More Homestyle Puddings to Enjoy!
While this egg custard recipe uses dairy milk, there are many ways to make nondairy pudding if you prefer. Here are some alternative recipes to consider.
Classic Egg Custard Recipe
An easy, traditional recipe for egg custard pudding that will delight both young and old with its rich flavor and easy digestibility.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs preferably pastured or free range
- 3 cups whole milk preferably grassfed
- 1/2 cup maple syrup preferably dark or Grade B
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- ground nutmeg optional
Instructions
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Crack eggs into a medium-sized, oven safe glass bowl (I use this one) and whip until just blended.
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Add sea salt and vanilla and mix well. Blend in maple syrup and whole milk with a whisk.
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Bake egg custard in the same mixing bowl at 400 °F/204 °C for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned on top, and a knife inserted in the center of the bowl comes out clean.
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Remove from the oven and sprinkle the optional nutmeg on top.
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Egg custard is delicious served warm! After the bowl is cooled, refrigerate leftovers for up to 4-5 days.
Recipe Notes
Goat or cow milk both work well in this recipe.
If you wish to use duck eggs instead of chicken eggs, use 4 instead of 6 eggs. Duck eggs are quite a bit larger than chicken eggs.
I’ve found it works best in my oven at 325 for 40 minutes. Comes out a perfectly smooth, silky texture. Otherwise it boils, browns, curdles and separates. I don’t heat the milk before baking either.
I just cooked this exactly as instructed and I to had the same problem, a watery mess, kinda disapointed. Wish i could attach a picture, well i will try it one more time but mane a few adjustments
Made exactly as directed and had a watery mess. After doing some research I found that the milk should be heated, a little of the heated (some sites say scalded) milk should be added to eggs and then slowly add eggs to hot milk or hot milk to eggs, then bake st lower temp in water bath. Just plopping it in the oven as directed is asking for trouble
Not sure what you did wrong. I’ve been using this exact recipe for over 40 years and never had a problem! And no, you don’t need to heat the milk first. What you are describing is making flan, not egg custard.
I just made this with Flax Milk and it turned out perfectly! Didn’t preheat the flax milk but did put the entire bowl in a dish with a bit of water in it…came out smooth and creamy!
Sarah –
The cooking directions don’t mention the milk! Do you whip it in with the eggs initially, or add it later?
I beat the milk in with the beaten eggs and sugar.
My 86 year old mother told me the trick to creamy custard is to scald the milk and add it, slowly while steadily stirring, to the egg mixture. That works for me
I have not been able to produce a good custard with almond milk, tho, but I keep trying.
This is truly heaven in a dish! I make mine with raw milk and grade B maple syrup. Bake in 380f convection oven 25-30 min (till knife comes out clean) and it bakes up beautifully. Very creamy and smooth. No water bath. I love it for breakfast right out of the oven, sprinkled with nutmeg and shredded coconut…Fabulous recipe!!!
Just made this last night-I was looking for a recipe that used more eggs because I have so many eggs from our very productive chickens. The Maple was great and this was less sweet which I prefer than most recipes I’ve come across.
I did temper the eggs first to shorten the cook time and I did cook it in a water bath at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. I tested it with a knife and it was done. Delish!
For those who are having trouble with eggs separating, you might want to give this a try. Honestly, I don’t understand why this extra step is causing so much angst! It’s 1 tiny step- grab a 13×9 pan or something like it and pour in some warm water and set the bowl of custard inside this dish. Simple. Cook at a lower heat- 325- to 350 and you won’t have a problem with eggs separating. You don’t have to heat the egg mixture up first but you will have to cook it longer is all. Mine was done sooner because it was already hot before it went into the oven.