Miraculous microwave custard

sweeteners
eggs

(Nick) #1

If you want to slurp up some great fat, in an astonishingly delicious way, with almost no mess and fuss, just do the following to make a lovely custard (creme anglais) which you can eat warm, with berries, freeze into chocolate moulds for treats or use to make ice-cream. Or, sprinkle on and mix in a pack of gelatine once your warm custard is ready, and you’ll have a lovely keto panna cotta once it’s set. And, finally, you’ll find a use for the puny “WARM” or “LOW” function on your microwave - the setting is perfect gently to set the custard without suddenly curdling it! Note: I wrote a posting on my own blog to explain how to make this on the stove, if you don’t like microwaves. But the microwave makes it ludicrously easy and fool-proof:
Keto Custard on the Stove

Ludicrously Easy Keto Custard

INGREDIENTS:

  • 5 egg yolks
  • 4 or 5 Tbs of erythritol (to taste) or stevia/xylitol of you prefer.
  • 2 Tsp of vanilla extract, or even better, a generous dollop of vanilla-seed pod pulp
  • 1 pint of single or double cream

TOOLS:

  • 1 pyrex jug
  • 1 whisk or hand blender
  • 1 microwave

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Place 5 egg yolks in the pyrex jug. Keep the whites for meringues etc.
  2. Add the erythritol
  3. Add the vanilla
  4. Whisk or blend very well
  5. Add the cream
  6. Re-whisk and blend very well
  7. Place jug in microwave, covered with a little plate or similar
  8. Microwave on your machine’s LOWEST setting (warm, for example) for 22 minutes.
  9. Re-whisk
  10. Microwave again on warm for another 15 minutes.
  11. Re-whisk. If the consistency is right, you’re done. If you want it a bit thicker, repeat in 10 minute increments.
  12. If you remove it from the microwave and you’ve overshot, and it’s a bit lumpy/eggy, don’t worry - a vigorous whisking sayes the day.

Consume warm, cold, or frozen in chocolate moulds. For variety, add food flavourings, cocoa powder etc. This is a wondrous base, full of healthy fats. Add gelatine, use in keto pies, pour on berries, swirl into yoghurt, throw in some nuts and revel in the fact that your diet lets you eat this luxurious decadence!


Overwhelming need to STOP at week 2! Help!
Ice cream, frozen custard, etc
#2

Great recipe! Thank you for sharing.

Perhaps this recipe should be in the “recipes, recipes, recipes” section, and then add “fat” in the tag sub-section?


#3

Very like my semifreddo

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/vanilla-semifreddo/4461

Really delicious.


(Nick) #4

Indeed. Custards are so easy, and are a doddle to adapt to keto with no diminution in flavour or texture. I’m surprised they’re not promoted more often!


(Beth) #5

What is “double” cream?


(Nick) #6

Double cream? Let me explain. The US and the UK have very different dairy output. In particular, cream in the UK is usually much thicker than cream in the US, and richer. The cows, even on large commercial farms, have the majority of their feed as grass or silage.

There are lots of different sorts of creams available, but your average supermarket will have at least the following (along with things like sour cream etc):

  • Whipping cream: this is light cream, easy to aerate and create frothed whipped cream we all know.
  • Single cream: this is probably as thick, ironically, as what Americans would call “heavy cream”.
  • Double cream: a thicker, richer cream. Less water, more fat, it pours marginally more viscously. It produces a more luxuriant mouth-feel and has more fat per volume. Good news for keto folk.
  • Extra-thick cream: this is very concentrated cream - it’s so thick that if you open the punnet and turn it over, the cream will not pour out! You spoon it, and its consistency is almost fudge-like. It’s unbelievably delicious.
  • Clotted cream: this speciality is where thick cream is scalded, so it produces a solid buttery layer on the top, and thick, sticky, cream below. It’s supernaturally lovely. It’s traditionally spread on scones (or biscuits as you’d say in the US) and had with jam (or jelly, as you’d say in the US). Naturally, we keto folk would just eat it with a spoon :slight_smile:

In addition to the above, many supermarkets also offer creams produced by different sort of cows. For example, cream produced by Jersey or Guernsey cows is slightly yellower and has a deliciously rich, butter flavour.

I was very surprised when I visited America to find cream in a poury-carton rather than in a plastic pot. And I was even more surprised when the carton labelled heavy cream was in reality a watery disappointing single cream equivalent!

In summary: Americans do lots of things brilliantly well compared with the UK. But dairy ain’t one of them :slight_smile: And don’t get me started on your “sharp” cheeses :wink:


Cream question for Brits!
Wanted to thank the dudes
(Nick) #7

It should be, I think. But earlier, I wasn’t able to post it there for some reason. What’s the polite way of re-posting something in these forums?


#8

Hey, no worries. I fixed it for you :slight_smile:

Not sure why you weren’t able to do it before. Possibly a temporary glitch in the system.


(Richard Morris) #9

@Fiorella has moderator powers because the forum loves her food posts :smile:

Nick may have just been here under 15 mins during which time the forum was not sure if he was a human or a bot - so he had access to limited functions.


(Beth) #10

Thanks for the dairy primer, @bokkiedog. I am able to find some cream that comes in a glass bottle and it has a really thick maybe 1/2" layer at the top that I have to poke a knife through to get it to pour.

Well, I tried the miraculous microwave custard recipe earlier today, except… as soon as I tried to set the microwave, it tells me that the function I want (“power”) is not available at this time. I tried to reset the whole thing, but no luck. So, I started cooking it on low on the stove. I wasn’t quite sure how long to let it go. I stirred and let it go maybe 20 or so minutes until it seemed thicker. Well, it didn’t set up so great – kind of two layers – one on top got kind of hard and then below was soft and grainy. Oh well, I will try again sometime!


(Nick) #11

Sorry to hear your microwave refused to be gentle :slight_smile: Did you try it on the stove as per my blog posting? The key is that you have to be REALLY gentle with the heat, but keep stirring it. Listen to a podcast and just tend the pot. If you increase the heat too much, for even a short period, you effectively get scrambled eggs in cream. You have to gently thicken it though warmth. That’s what’s so good about the microwave: it does the tedious bits for you, and because it gently heats the liquid directly rather than a piece of metal that the liquid sticks to and clumps, it does it nice and gently without the need for nearly as much stirring. On the stove, you have to keep moving the custard that’s touching the hot bottom of the pot away from it.


(Beth) #12

I did not see the instructions on your blog. I kept it at a gentle heat but I did not stir constantly. Too much going on with four dogs and two of them puppies. I don’t think I got scrambled eggs but I clearly screwed up something. Next time I do it I will definitely consult your blog first.


(Nick) #13

What’s the exact brand of your microwave? Maybe I’ll be able to advise?


(Beth) #14

It’s a GE. I have a feeling it may have gotten into a strange setting with power outages and/or generator use. I don’t know – we used to be able to change power level. It’s only a couple of years old. It has a “vegetable” button that I thought might work, but in addition to perhaps a power level change, it only cooks for a short bit of time, so that won’t work.