Nourishing Custard

I know the word custard just made a whole buncha people leave. I get it. Custard, Flan, Cream Brulee, it's not for everyone. It's a textural thing for lots of folks. I understand. I happen to love all things custardy.

I get in a breakfast rut. I eat a lot of eggs for breakfast, and try and stay away from carbs which is so hard cause almost all breakfast food is delicious carbs!! There are only a few kinds of breakfast cereal I'll eat because most are just a bowl full of sugar and GMO ingredients. When you think about it, not the best way to start the day off! So in my never ending quest to mix it up and not have the same 4 things for breakfast every morning I did a little online research and found this Nourishing Custard.

This is not a sweet custard that you'd have as a dessert, although if you wanted it to be all you would have to do is add more sweetener to it. I make up a batch of this on a Sunday so I'll have breakfast (and sometimes a snack) all week. For breakfast I'll mix in fresh fruits to really make it a meal, so a snack I'll add a little sweetener like a touch of maple syrup or a sprinkling of Truvia. It's enough to satisfy my sweet tooth and not send me into a sugar coma.

This has become a breakfast I look forward to! With all the fresh fruits that will be available soon I've already decided that I can cook some of them down and make a fruity syrup to mix into the custard. Possibilities endless! You could even call this pudding and I bet your little ones would love it!

This recipe makes a lot of custard, but you can easily half it. I like to make a big batch so I have it at the ready all week. Mix up your breakfast and try this silky custard!



BASIC NOURISHING CUSTARD
slightly adapted from a recipe at Eat Outside the Bag
PRINTABLE RECIPE
6 eggs, from pastured chickens
1/4 cup organic maple syrup or local raw honey (double this for sweeter custard)
2 teaspoons vanilla or 2 vanilla beans
4-6 sticks cinnamon
5 cups milk
dash of salt
ground nutmeg or cinnamon for top if desired

Preheat oven to 325 F for a dish or 350 for cups.

If you want extra healthful and flavorful custard, steep milk with vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks. You can skip this step but it makes the custard pretty darn tasty. Whisk eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla if using in bowl, stir in milk. Pour into a glass baking dish or six custard cups. Sprinkle top with nutmeg or cinnamon if desired. Set the baking dish(es) in a pan of hot water.  Containers nested in a rectangular glass baking dish for large single servings. Bake large dish at 325 degrees for 1 hour; bake cups at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Custard is done when a knife inserted off-center comes out clean. Serve warm or cold, add an extra drizzle of maple syrup if you want it sweeter.

You can also make this even more healthful by adding some pumpkin to make pumpkin custard. Essentially all you need to do is swap out half the milk for pureed pumpkin. What a wonderful way to get a serving of vegetables first thing in the morning.

Swedish Almond Cake

I love a cake that can be make with everything that you have in your kitchen. A cake you can whip up in the morning when you have an unexpected guest over, or just because you want a little sweetness to end your day.

I have a Swedish Almond Cake under my belt already. One that I quite frequently. That recipe was given to me by a dear friends mother, Marion Bird. You need a special little pan to make that one in, but boy is it delicious! Click here for that recipe.

Back in the late 80's I worked with a Swedish woman named Ferrell Dewell. What an unusual name huh? Ferrell was a sweetheart and she kind of took me under her wing when I first started working. She shared quite a few recipes with me over the years. She even knit a giant stocking for my first born son back in 1995 just before she retired.

Ferrell passed away many years ago. I still think of her every year when I pull out that giant stocking from my Christmas decorations. I stumbled upon a recipe for Swedish Almond Cake that she gave me many years ago. Whenever she would bring a treat into work, she'd type up the recipe to pass out with a piece of whatever goodness she brought.

I'm so glad I have this recipe to share with you and that I still have a little piece of Ferrell with me through it.

This gorgeous little cake has a crispy outer crust and a soft, tender cake in the middle.



Swedish Almond Cake
recipe from Ferrell Dewell via Lisa@The Cutting Edge of Ordinary
PRINTABLE RECIPE
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick butter, softened
2 eggs,beaten
1 1/2 teaspoon PURE almond extract
Slivered almonds for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray a glass pie plate with cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together sugar and flour. Add in the butter. This won't be like most cake batters. It's almost like you're making a strudel topping, so add the softened butter and then get in there with both your hands and keep crumbling it until it starts to come together. The mixture will be crumbly and that's ok.

Mix the eggs and almond extract together in a separate bowl. Add to the batter and stir to combine. The batter will be almost dough like. Spread evenly in the pie plate. Sprinkle the slivered almonds on top. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Let cool. Cut into wedges to serve.

Irish Cream Brownies

Oh. My. Word.

Just take a look at that brownie.

I had started a Pinterest board for Easter and as the months passed I'd see something that I thought would be delicious on our Easter table and I'd I pin it and kind of forget about it except when I saw these brownies I didn't forget about them.

As with most recipe that I haven't made before, I like to do a trial run with them to make sure the recipe is good. Nothing worse than trying a new recipe out on a group of people and finding out it's a flop.

These are not flops! A chocolaty brownie topped with a creamy layer with a hint of Irish cream, then topped with Irish cream ganache. My word, it was amazing. I had to give most of it them away so we wouldn't keep them all and eat them!

These will definitely be on our Easter table!




Irish Cream Brownies
Recipe by Spend With Pennies
PRINTABLE RECIPE

1 Boxed Fudge Brownie Mix 9x13 size, plus box indicated ingredients or your favorite homemade brownies

For the Frosting
¾ cup unsalted butter (12 tablespoons), softened
⅓ cup Baileys Irish Cream
3 cups powdered sugar

For the Ganache
¾ cup semi­sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons heavy cream
½ cup Baileys Irish Cream

Prepare brownies according to package directions. Cool completely. I found a great organic brownie mix at the store, or you could use your favorite brownie recipe.

For the Frosting:
Beat butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add in Baileys and mix well. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until completely incorporated. Beat until soft and fluffy. Spread over brownies and refrigerate while making the ganache.

For the ganache:
Combine Baileys and heavy cream in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Put the chocolate chips in a large glass measuring cup (at least 2 cups). Bring the cream just to a boil and immediately poor over chocolate chips. Let sit 5 minutes without stirring. Don't touch it! Once the 5 minutes are up whisk until smooth and creamy and spread over frosted brownies. Chill until ganache sets.