VANILLA CUSTARD WITH ROASTED STRAWBERRIES AND RHUBARB
Why this one?
I was hosting a lunch for my dear mum's birthday and needed a dessert, I wanted something that could be made ahead and had originally chosen a set cream by Delia. After visiting my mother in law and leaving with a beautiful bounty of pink and green rhubarb steams I delved into Ottolenghi remembering I'd seen a dish where these sweet tender stems were showcased. A bonus that this dish could also be made in advance and sounded bloody delicious.
Find the recipe here... https://kitchenthinking.home.blog/2019/01/01/ottolenghis-vanilla-custard-with-roasted-strawberries-and-rhubarb/
Any substitutes?
None
The actual cooking of the dish
The main dilemma when cooking this was what dish to put it in, the recipe calling for a medium sized dish - now tell me, what is a medium sized dish? Anyone? Is it my casserole pot, the Le Cresuet dish or a roast tray. In hindsight I should have chosen my Le Cresuet but I choose a casserole dish, this didn't affect the taste but did lead to it being very difficult to photograph nicely.
The cooking was done in two parts, cooking the fruit, easy peasy, pop it in the oven with the sugar and then baking the custard.
Then mix all the custard ingredients and bake in a Bain Marie. I was very nervous about the custard, for an unknown reason, perhaps childhood memories of lumpy custard with a thick slimy skin.
What I thought
Silky, luxurious and absolute decadence, this dessert was summer personified. The sugar sweet fruit balancing the rich, creamy custard. Everyone around the table fighting for the last portion, spoons clanging as the were plunged into the pale, set custard.
Difficulty: Medium
Tastiness rating: 10/10
Next time I'd....cook it for the time stated in the recipe. I cooked it for 3 minutes longer as I didn't think it was set, however, next time, and there will be a next time, I will follow the recipe as I think the extra cooking time resulted in some of the custard around the edges being slightly lumpy. Still delicious in terms of taste but the texture less satisfying.
Comments
Post a Comment