Custard Creams Food

HOME-MADE CUSTARD CREAMS

Steps:

• Cream sugar and margarine, then fold in flour, custard powder and vanilla essence until a roll-able dough is formed. Alternatively combine all ingredients in a food processor, and then by hand form the dough.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
• Flour a surface and roll out dough to roughly 1/2 cm thickness. Then cut out shapes, ensuring there is a duplicate of each shape you cut.
• Place shapes on a baking tray covered in baking parchment (or greased and floured), ensuring that one of each pair is put on upside down (i.e. flipped over, rather than rotated). Place in oven for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
• Blend the icing sugar and margarine, and then use to fill the custard creams once they are cool. Place a bit on the bottom (i.e. non-smooth side) of the first biscuit, then push the bottom of the first biscuit's pair onto this. Don't force together as otherwise the filling will just explode out the sides! Leave to set in a container or eat there and then.

CUSTARD CREAM

Steps:

• Put the milk over moderate heat in pan of suitable size (you don't want too much surface area, to prevent too much milk from evaporating).
• Combine the egg yolks, sugar and corn starch in a heavy-bottomed pan. When the milk boils, turn down the heat.
• Combine the milk with sugar/egg-yolk mixture bit by bit, making sure the mixture is completely dissolved in the milk. Now add the vanilla extract or other flavouring.
• Now turn on the heat (not too high, but you don't have to be extremely careful either) and keep stirring until the mixture starts to boil again and then turn off the heat. I like to use a whisk, which helps to mix everything well and make the custard slightly fluffy.
• If you feel the custard is too fluid even after it has boiled you can consider adding a bit more corn starch, but be very sure to mix it with some milk first, and be sure to not let the custard continue boiling for too long.
• Pour the custard into serving dishes. The custard can be served while hot (but wait a few minutes, or you'll burn your mouth) or after letting it cool down (it will thicken slightly while cooling down).

CUSTARD CREAM FILLING

Steps:

• Scald milk, being careful not to burn.
• Mix together sugar, flour and salt.
• Add eggs to flour mixture and beat well.
• Add slowly to milk, stirring constantly with whisk until thick.
• (Thickens rapidly).
• Remove from heat and add vanilla, orange rind and butter.
• Stir and cool.

CUSTARD BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Beat egg with a fork in a small, heavy saucepan. Mix in sugar and milk. Heat on medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it just starts to boil. Continue beating rapidly until mixture thickens to a thin custard consistency. Remove from heat and cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Beat butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add cooled custard, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in rum and vanilla extract. Keep beating until buttercream is very light and fluffy.

CUSTARD CREAMS

Steps:

• Make the biscuits:
• Sift the flour, custard powder, powdered sugar, and baking soda into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Slowly add the butter, one cube at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time and continue to mix until a smooth dough is formed.
• Remove the dough from the fridge 15 minutes before rolling it out, and preheat the oven to 325°F/170°C/150°C fan/Gas Mark 3. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to roughly ⅛-inch/3mm thick. Use a 6cm pastry cutter to cut 20 rounds from the dough, and transfer the rounds to two baking sheets lined with baking parchment, leaving 1cm between the rounds. Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes. They will look slightly golden, but it's important that they don't take on much colour. Allow the biscuits to cool on the sheets for a couple of minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Make the filling and assemble:
• Meanwhile, put the butter and powdered sugar for the filling into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat until smooth, then add the vanilla paste and beat again. Scrape down the sides and continue to mix until the vanilla is incorporated. Use a spatula to transfer the mixture to a disposable piping bag. Cut a ½ cm hole in the pointed end of the piping bag and pipe spirals of the icing on 10 of the biscuits, leaving ½cm between the filling and the outside edge of the biscuit. Carefully place an un-iced biscuit on top of an iced one and repeat with the remaining iced and un-iced biscuits - there will be 10 filled custard creams in total.
• Store in an airtight container in a cool spot for up to 5 days.