Boiled Custard

[lupaglupa]

When I was a child my father made two holiday drinks each year. The first was a version of eggnog that had enough Tennessee Whiskey in it to drop a mule. The second was for us kids - boiled custard. My father said it was eggnog without the booze and he was, sort of, right. It's a lovely drink if you want to try it (though the eggnog is pretty special too!). I found this recipe in the Fayetteville Observer. Since my father was born only 26 miles from there, I'm guessing it will come close to what he grew up on and shared with us.

Good Boiled Custard

To one quart of milk add four well-beaten eggs and a cup of white sugar; flavor with lemon or vanilla. Put this in a tin pail, which set in a kettle of boiling water, letting it remain until the custard just boils; then remove to a cool place.

(Fayetteville Observer, November 18, 1869)

 

[donna]

My husband's Mother always made boiled custard for Christmas. Everyone loved it. It is a tradition we miss.

 

[lupaglupa]

This recipe makes it sound very easy but I remember my Dad really struggling to get it cooked right without curdling

 

[gjpratt]

Wow. Great memories. My maternal grandmother in the Upper Cumberland Valley in Tennessee made boiled custard for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Just like the spinster sisters in the Waltons, they were tee totalers but kept a bottle of whiskey on the top shelf Of the cupboard. They called it "flavoring" to cut down the sweetness of the custard. And the kept adding more and more flavoring because it made the boiled custard so much better. I never understood what was going on until l grew into an adult.

 

[lupaglupa]

Wow. Great memories. My maternal grandmother in the Upper Cumberland Valley in Tennessee made boiled custard for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Just like the spinster sisters in the Waltons, they were tee totalers but kept a bottle of whiskey on the top shelf Of the cupboard. They called it "flavoring" to cut down the sweetness of the custard. And the kept adding more and more flavoring because it made the boiled custard so much better. I never understood what was going on until l grew into an adult.

I've been known to "flavor" certain beverages. Like water.