It’s easy to microwave custard, from scratch, to go on top of your hot puddings, or to let get cold for a trifle topping, or a quick banana custard. Custard was always made “from scratch” when I was growing up, using Birds Eye custard powder and a pint of milk. It took ages. Over the years I started to just buy instant custard powder sachets from the supermarket, just add boiling water, stir and serve.

Pin it for Later, or Tell a Friend: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/571535008974684755/

Food Shortages & Empty Shelves

More recently though, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find instant custard powder for sale at the supermarkets I was shopping at. There are said to be food shortages and empty shelves – something that never bothered me much as I always thought I’d find what I wanted another time, in another shop, but that’s been more rare.

Then, the local Out of Date Food Warehouse got some stock in of Birds Eye Original Custard Powder – and I thought I’d bite the bullet and “go back” to making custard from scratch, but using the microwave oven – and it’s easy! This is foolproof English custard, for desserts or trifles. It’s proper, real, custard – it’s no different – just cooked more quickly than using the hob and boiling milk.

Make Half a Pint of Custard

I’d made a slow cooker bread & butter pudding, so wanted some custard for that, so I only wanted to make half a pint of custard today; to make a pint of custard, just double the quantities.

Here’s how it’s done, the three ingredients for English custard:

• 17 grams Birds Eye Custard Powder
• 1/2 pint of milk* (I’ve used Nestle Nido dried milk)
• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

I used two Pyrex jugs – all you need is two microwave safe dishes, bowls, jugs, or mugs, that are BOTH large enough to hold the custard. For the mixing, I just used a regular fork.

1. Pour half a pint of milk into a microwave safe jug or bowl.
2. In a second jug mix the Birds Eye Custard Powder with the sugar and add a splash of milk from the first jug. Mix these together for a few seconds until it’s a bright orange liquid.

3. Microwave the nearly half pint of milk on high power until the milk is quite warm/hot. It doesn’t need to be super hot, or boiling – it just needs to be hot.
4. Pour the hot milk into the jug that contains your custard powder/sugar/milk. Give this a really good stir so it’s all mixed together (I use a fork).
5. Place the jug of custard in the microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. Repeat for a further minute.
6. If you want it thicker: microwave it a little longer; if it’s too thick, add a small splash of milk and mix it in (or water if you’ve run out of milk as you just used the last to make it)

Your custard is now ready to serve!

Any leftover custard can be put into a covered mug, or pot, or dish and used cold, or microwaved hot again later.

*Milk

I’ve recently bought (stocked up on?) dried milk as milk prices were increasing and I don’t buy much; it’d been on my mind to buy dried milk for the last five years, but, again due to sometimes finding shelves lacking, I did not get round to it until the other week!

I’ve now got two types: Asda own brand Skimmed Milk Powder and Nido Full Fat Milk Powder.

Today, instead of using fresh full fat (blue top) milk, I mixed up some Nestle Nido Dried Milk and used that. All you do is spoon out the powder and add cold water!

Lock & Lock

In case you’re wondering why my sugar’s locked away …. I use Lock & Lock boxes for flour, sugar, sultanas, oats and most large packets once they’re opened. Airtight and watertight, I know nothing’s going to crawl in or out of the packets without me knowing! They keep ingredients fresh, as I tend to use things sparingly – one bag of sugar might last me 1-2 years, the same for bags of flour; then I’ll have a spurt of using them for a few weeks again and they need to be as pristine as when I last used them.