These easy individual maple custards are a delicious example of "hurry up and wait". The custard comes together quickly, but you have a 40 minute bake time, an hour of cooling and then a couple of hours to chill. But for all your waiting, the reward is creamy, maple flavored custard good enough for company or just a weeknight. Another bonus -- You can easily make them sugar free.
To me, these are very much like Crème Brûlée, but without the burnt top. They're sweetened entirely with maple syrup, so they have natural maple flavor, but the real flavor punch comes from maple extract. In addition, there's vanilla paste (you can sub with vanilla extract) and bourbon, so plenty of warm flavors to enjoy on a cold evening.
Different Ramekins
I have been using small 4 oz ramekins and filling them almost to the top. The ones in the photo are from Cermer, which are sold wholesale, but can be found on Etsy or at thrift stores. They get very hot. I've also tested in a rounded white custard cup, a recycled Oui yogurt jar, and an old fashioned Pyrex custard cup. With 4 oz per ramekin, they all baked at about the same rate and the custards were done in 40 minutes.
With 100% maple syrup and bourbon, these are on the soft side. They will be jiggly when taken out of the oven, but set once cool and chilled. Use an instant read thermometer for best results. Pull custards when the reading is between 170 and 175. I've pulled them as late as 180F with the temperature still climbing and they were still fine. They are naturally soft, but should not be soupy or runny. Err on the side of baking too long.
The recipe makes 4 individual ramekins, but it halves beautiful for dessert for two, or can be doubled for a party. I love this recipe and am looking forward to making these again and again. It's also an excuse to buy more small ramekins. Since these are so small, you can serve something fun alongside like a couple of Animal Crackers.
Sugar Free Maple Custards
I was skeptical, but since the only sweetener in these is maple syrup, I tested a batch with Wholesome Yum brand zero sugar maple flavored syrup. It worked perfectly! The tops got a little browner, but the puddings were just as creamy and tasty without much of an aftertaste if any.
Maple Ice Cream
And here's one more tip. I don't know who will actually use this, but if you have too many maple custards, you can throw the cold custard in the ice cream maker and turn it into maple ice cream. I had a few maple custards leftover from testing so I tried it. The maple ice cream is as good as the custard and will last much longer.
Recipe
Individual Maple Custards
Ingredients
- ½ cup heavy cream (120 grams)
- ½ cup whole milk (120 grams)
- 1 large egg (50 grams)
- 2 large egg yolks (30 grams)
- ½ cup maple syrup (155 grams)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ teaspoon maple extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F. Have ready 4 ramekins (4 to 6 oz each) and an 8 inch metal baking pan.
- In a large saucepan, heat the milk and cream just until simmering.
- Meanwhile, in a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolks and maple syrup. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture to temper, whisking until smooth.
- Strain into a second bowl. This step is something you can skip if you don't have a sieve, but it helps catch any tiny particles of congealed cream or egg yolk and makes the custards a little creamier.
- Whisk in vanilla paste, maple extract, salt and bourbon.
- Pour 4 oz of custard into each ramekin. Set all the ramekins in the pan, then boil some tap water in the microwave or over the stove. Pour the boiling water into the pan so that it comes about ⅔ to the top of the ramekins.
- Carefully set pan with water and custards in the preheated oven (bottom rack is recommended, but I've used upper rack as well) and bake until centers of custards are just barely set and register 175F. This should take about 35 to 40 minutes, but use a quick read thermometer to check.
- Remove from oven. Using a slotted spatula, carefully lift the custards up out of the water bath and set on a rack to cool to rom temperature. Once cool, chill until very cold (about 2-3 hours). You can cover them right away, or let them chill a little bit and then cover about halfway through. Serve with whipped cream or whipped topping.
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