I was in the grocery store the other day and there were blueberries. Not just teensy little containers full of wrinkly, sour berries from South America. These ones were from the USA (better, but not as good as from BC), and in a 2lb container. Hells yes.
I got home from work on Monday needing blueberries in my dinner. I considered a wide variety of options; straight, with yoghurt, with oatmeal. With cream, with whipped cream, or… with pancakes. Yes. The last one. And since I first had pancakes with homemade custard, it’s become a bit of an obsession.
So, I got out the cream and the eggs. As I reached into the fridge, I noticed a jug of grade B maple syrup. And I had an idea. A lets-make-this-super-Canadian idea. A lets-ditch-the-sugar-and-use-maple-syrup-instead idea. Omnomnom.
It was a great idea. Like it couldn’t be. The final custard is a creamy butterscotch colour that tastes deliciously of maple and vanilla. It’s perfection. Creamy, creamy perfection.
Maple Custard
6 tbsp cornstarch
¼ tsp salt1½ cups whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup grade B maple syrup3 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extractWhisk together the cornstarch and salt in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Combine the milk, cream, and maple syrup and slowly add to the cornstarch mixture.
Place the saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly while it heats. Once it thickens noticeably, scoop out about half a cup of the mixture and whisk it into the beaten eggs. Then slowly pour the egg/custard mixture back in with the rest of the custard and whisk until thickened a bit more and cooked through. Add the vanilla and stir.
Serve with anything you think would be delicious with custard. Yum.
