Pumpkin Praline Custard

I’ve been promising you, all my loyal readers (thank you, by the way), that I’d post this recipe. I mentioned it way back last Fall, saying that I had this low calorie, low fat dessert, perfect for the autumn months. I’m sure I’ve mentioned, I’m a big fan of anything pumpkin. Pumpkin pie is my most favorite pie. But I don’t make it, really, except at Thanksgiving. My will power is about zilch when it comes to pumpkin pie. I have an entire stack of recipes in my archives devoted just to all-things-pumpkin. Pies, cakes, tortes, breads, muffins, cookies, tarts, pudding, etc. But I try to stay away from them as much as possible.

The recipe came from Cooking Light, back in 2001. And the writer/developer raved about the flavor, telling readers it was worth making. I couldn’t agree more. This little number satisfies my yearning for pumpkin pie, but without all the calories, without the crust, and with a lot less fuss. And with very little fat. And it’s easy on top of it.

You’re wondering . . . where’s the praline? I ran out of time, so this time I served the custards with just a little covering of heavy cream (less than a tablespoon each). I make these in custard cups, espresso cups, or ramekins. If you use small cups, rather than ramekins, you’ll be able to serve more.

Whipping this together takes all of about 10 minutes (yes, really), then you bake them in a water bath for about 50 minutes, cool, serve. You whiz up the custard in the blender, to make sure the cinnamon gets distributed (ever noticed how cinnamon kind of floats everywhere it goes, especially liquid?). You definitely want it to disburse in this custard, so do use a hand mixer or a blender. But the ingredients can all fit in the blender bowl and takes but a few seconds to combine. Then you pour it into spray-covered ramekins and bake. I started the tea kettle to boil before I started the custard prep and by the time the water was boiling, I was all ready. But be sure to preheat the oven first – my oven wasn’t even hot when I was ready to put these in. That’s how quick they are to make.

A little bit about nutmeg here. I can’t stress enough, that there is real value (taste value) in using freshly grated nutmeg. Here’s a photo of a nutmeg pod. It’s about ½ inch in diameter, and I’ve had my nutmeg for years and years. I don’t think they go bad as long as they’re still in the whole form. So I bought this little gizmo, a nutmeg grinder, some years ago. It’s nothing fancy, comes apart in a jiffy, and contains the whole pods in a compartment in the top (you can see one pod inside) and the bottom part is the grinder. The flavor is so enhanced with fresh nutmeg. If you like to bake, you’ll find it worthwhile to have one of these grinders. As an aside, I went online and was going to give you a recommendation of a grinder, but having read reviews of several brands, I’m not sure which one I’d buy. They range in price from about $15 - $75. My little plastic one was under $10 when I bought it. Do read the reviews, though, before deciding on any of them. It appears the William Bounds ones get better write-ups.

Cook’s Notes: Make these enough ahead so you can cool and chill them. I serve them at room temp sometimes, and they’re fine, but the recipe indicates chilling time. You can make the praline pecans ahead of time.

Pumpkin Praline Custards
Recipe: From Cooking Light, 2001
Serving Size : 6
CUSTARD:
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk -- or vanilla soy milk
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg -- freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
PRALINES:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1. Preheat oven to 325°. To prepare custards, combine the first nine ingredients in a large bowl and stir well with a whisk, or combine in a blender. Divide the mixture among six 6-ounce custard cups coated with cooking spray. Place the cups in a 9x13 pan, add hot water to a depth of one inch. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cups from the water bath and cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill.
2. To prepare the praline: combine the sugar and water in a small skillet (nonstick is preferable). Cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes, or until the mixture has turned a golden brown color, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add the chopped pecans and stir to coat them. Then, QUICKLY scrape the mixture out onto a baking sheet that's been coated with cooking spray, spreading out as thinly as possible to cool completely. Break up the pralines into small pieces and use about 1 tablespoon on top of each serving.
Serving Ideas : If you don't have time to make the praline, you could also serve the custard with a thin film of heavy cream.
NOTES : This custard - or almost a pumpkin pie filling - is really, really good. And it's surprisingly very low in fat too. It's hard to believe it has so few fat grams! And the best part is that you can whip this up in such a short time. If you have the pralines on hand (or even candied walnuts would be fine too) it's a snap to make this. If there is any leftover batter, just pour it into another larger dish and bake a little longer than the cups.
Per Serving: 221 Calories; 6g Fat (23.1% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 73mg Cholesterol; 163mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

Printer-friendly recipe.

Almond Custard

Nobody seems to make custard anymore. What happened to custard? Is it perceived as too bland? Pale? Wrong color altogether? It's a sad state of affairs. Custard is the ubiquitous dessert. Wonderful for a homey dinner. Nice enough for a company dinner, especially if accompanied by some fruit, or a cookie. I must admit that it's been a long while since I've made any custard. And yet, I like it very much.

So, when I was scouring through some recipes a week or so ago I ran across a custard recipe I haven't made in years and years. Pairing custard with almond may seem unusual. But it's a lovely match, especially since you add the apple juice concentrate as a perk at the end. What's unusual about this recipe is that there is no refined sugar in it. The custard is made with just eggs, flavorings (vanilla and almond) and the two milk types. Once baked and cooled, you put on the thickened apple juice topping, which is naturally sweet, and that provides the only sweet thing in the custard. Then you sprinkle almonds on top.This may not be a WOW kind of recipe, but it looks pretty enough, and represents good old American home cookin'. And note, this is gluten-free also, in case you're searching for those kinds of recipes.

A former employee, Kathleen Heckathorn., brought this to one of our potluck lunches at Ad Masters (the ad agency I've talked about before that I co-owned), and everybody just scooped it right up. I've made it a few times over the years, although not for awhile. I hadn't input it into my recipe program, so that's why I'd lost track of it. But it was in my catch-all alphabetized recipe files - the clippings, photocopies, some of them ancient, that live in a file cabinet. I use more of the apple juice concentrate that Kathleen did - to make sure there is enough sauce to go around, and Kathleen began the thickening with cornstarch, which wasn't part of the original recipe. The concentrate is just a bit too thin, as is out of the can, for a topping, so the cornstarch helps it along well. If you find the custard odd tasting (no sugar) you could add a little bit to it. Just not very much.

After making this, I phoned Kathleen to thank her for this recipe. Hadn't talked to her in years. It was great fun catching up about our families, etc. So, thanks Kathleen for this great recipe.

I have another custard recipe that I'll be sharing with you after the first of the year. It's truly low calorie. But you'd never know it. Absolutely wouldn't ever figure it out. It is a pumpkin custard. Since I haven't had my fill of pumpkin yet this year (I only got to eat two slices of pie over Thanksgiving), it will be something nice to make in the New Year. When DH and I have agreed we're going to work on reducing the calories around here. Blog writing isn't exactly the best thing for the waistline, I'll admit. I keep wanting to share more and more of my old tried and true recipes.

Almond Custard
Recipe looks like it may have come from a Family Circle magazine or something similar.
Servings: 7
4 whole eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 1/2 cups milk
6 ounces apple juice, frozen concentrate -- undiluted
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons toasted almonds
1. Preheat oven to 300. Measure milk and half and half into a saucepan and gently bring up to a simmer. Do not boil.
2. Meanwhile, combine the eggs in a medium bowl, then add extracts. Mix until well combined.
3. Pour scalded milk into the egg mixture and stir to mix up completely. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered ovenproof dish. Shallower is better than higher.
4. Place dish into a larger but flat container and pour hot water in the sides (do not get any in the custard) and place in the center of the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center, comes out clean.
5. Remove to a rack to cool, then refrigerate.
6. When ready to serve, combine the apple juice concentrate and the cornstarch in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve the cornstarch, then heat until the apple juice mixture has thickened some. Add the 1 tsp. of vanilla and cool briefly.
7. Just before serving pour the juice over the custard and sprinkle the toasted almonds on top.
NOTES : Use a shallow baking dish if possible. There is no sugar in the custard, so the apple concentrate topping is a necessary part of the dish.
Per Serving: 205 Calories; 12g Fat (53.0% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 147mg Cholesterol; 93mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 2 Fat.

To print a PDF recipe, click title at top.

Normandy Apricot Custard

(photo wholefoodsmarket.com)

Maybe I'll have a photo of this special dessert this summer. But only if I can still find apricots in the market by the time I'm able to walk again.

Several years ago I attended a cooking class taught by Susan Hermann Loomis. She's an American woman who took a left turn in her life and went to Paris. Attended culinary school, found jobs here and there cooking for wealthy families, met a Frenchman, married, bought a home in Normandy, settled down, had two children, then wrote a cookbook. And opened her home for cooking classes. And no, I didn't attend a class at her home in Normandy. Maybe one day.

Susan's a fun personality, and her cooking is quite straightforward. She cooks rustic. Country French. Seasonal. But oh, so delicious. This was the one recipe from her class that I made as soon as it was apricot season. I bought her cookbook and memoir On Rue Tatin and read it cover to cover as soon as I brought it home from the class. It's not currently in print, but you can find used copies. But, I very much enjoyed her breezy style, and learning more details about her life. I can't say that I've made very many of the dishes (you know, so many cookbooks, so little time, especially with a broken FOOT!), but I loved reading about them. I tagged the book in many places to remind me of the things I want to make.

I don't cook with apricots very often. They have such a short season, after all. But they're very much a celebrated fruit in Normandy, the region where Susan lives. She obviously subscribes to the Slow Food movement, using only local and seasonal ingredients. Some apricot varieties cook better than others - if you're not careful they become mush. But if you have a good source, and they are full of flavor, by all means, this would make a super end to a meal. Be sure to make this in a baking dish that's got at least 1/2 inch of space once you add all the ingredients, or it may bubble over in your oven. My notes remind me that it's the topping that makes the dish. Otherwise it would be a fruit with a custard on top, I suppose. But this has a simple eggy topping that adds a piquant taste to it. Goes very well with those perfectly baked apricots.

Normandy Apricot Custard
Recipe: Susan Herrmann Loomis, chef and author
Servings: 8
FRUIT LAYER:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds apricots -- slightly under-ripe
1/4 cup light brown sugar

CUSTARD LAYER:
6 tablespoons sugar -- infused with vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk

TOPPING LAYER:
1/3 cup sugar -- infused with vanilla
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Thoroughly butter and flour a 2-quart round baking dish about 4 inches deep. You may also use 1-cup ramekins.
2. Fruit Layer: Melt butter in medium wide skillet over medium heat. Add apricots and brown sugar, stir and saute until they are hot through and sugar has melted and begun to caramelize, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Custard Layer: In a large bowl mix together the sugar and 2 T. of butter until the mixture is pale yellow and light, about 3-5 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined. Use a whisk on the mixture until it is light and pale yellow. Sift the flour and baking powder over the bowl, whisking as you do, so it incorporates smoothly into the mixture. Then whisk in the milk. Fold in the warm apricots and the cooking juices, then pour the entire mixture into the prepared mold. Bake in center of oven until it begins to puff and look golden, about 30 minutes.
4. Topping Layer: While the custard is baking, whisk together vanilla sugar and remaining 4 T. butter until light and fluffy. Whisk in the egg until combined. Remove the baked apricot custard from the oven and spread this topping over it. Return it to the oven and bake until golden and bubbling, an additional 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before serving.
5. Serve with a rosemary sprig as garnish.
NOTES : The topping mixture is what makes this dish. Can be made several hours ahead of serving. Whatever bowl you bake this in, be sure to leave at least 1/2 inch of space below the edge, as it may overflow. Use a tall bowl, not a wide flat one. Vanilla sugar is simply regular sugar to which you have added a vanilla bean, cut in half. It will exude some scent to the sugar. Remove after a couple of months. When you add new sugar to your canister, add another vanilla bean. Since apricot season is so short, maybe this could be made with pluots instead.

Per Serving: 335 Calories; 16g Fat (41.9% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 44g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 118mg Cholesterol; 103mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To print the recipe, click title at top.