That was my first thought when the Prairie Kids brought in some abnormally large, blueish eggs a month or two ago. We’ve only hadbrown eggs since the raccoons got our Amerucana hens last year, and I couldn’t fathom why on earth our Plymouth Rocks and Red Sex Linkssuddenly started laying giant blue eggs.
Until I remembered we have ducks.
Duh, Jill. Duh.
Ever since, I’ve been on a mission to figure out the best ways to utilize these lovely duck eggs. Not only are duck eggs larger and richer than chicken eggs, but they also are reported to contain higher amounts of Omega-3s and protein. They have a bit more of an “intense” flavor, so most people prefer to add them to recipes, versus eating them plain.I’ve been experimenting with our duck eggs in all sorts of recipes lately, and have been nothing but impressed.
Most recently, I’ve been making duck egg custard, which makes me feel all sorts of fancy when I serve it in little custard cups after supper. But truthfully, homemade custard is incredibly simple to make, and uses milk and eggs, which are usually plentiful on a homestead.
By the way,I always use the real McCoy for syrup. Genuine, all-natural maple syrup trumps the store-bought pretend stuff every time. I highly recommend this wood-fired, all-natural maple syrup,made the old-fashioned way by the Plante family, in New England.
Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the scalded milk. Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer (to remove lumps), then pour custard cups or oven-safe ramekins half-full with the mixture. Sprinkle ground nutmeg on the top of each cup.
Place the ramekins in a oven safe pan (like a large baking dish), and fill the pan with the hot water to create a water bath for your custard cups. The water should come halfway up the sides of the cups. (This ensures they cook gently and evenly).
Bake for 35-55 minutes, or until the custards are set but still “loose”. (I check by touching the top lightly with my finger, if it is still liquid, keep cooking. A little jiggle is OK, though.)
Remove from the oven and serve immediately if you like warm custard (I don’t). Otherwise, refrigerate for up to 24 hours before serving for a silky smooth, chilledcustard.
Homemade Custard Notes
My Pyrex ramekins are slightly larger, so this recipe makes enough to fill 5 of them. If you are using smaller cups, you can easily get six servings from this recipe.
If you’d rather use granulated sugar in this recipe, you can. Simple omit the syrup and add 1/3 cup of sugar instead.
Although I haven’t tried it yet, honey would be awesomein this recipe too.
If it’s berry season, a handful of fresh berries would be heavenly on top of these maple custard cups.
*As written, these custards are delicately sweet. If you prefer a sweeter dessert, add 2-3 tablespoons of additional maple syrup.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Fill a teapot with water, and heat it just to boiling. Set aside.
Add the milk to a small saucepan, and scald it (heat it until it’s just about ready to boil, but don’t let it boil all the way).
In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, maple syrup, salt, and vanilla.
Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the scalded milk. Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer (to remove lumps), then pour custard cups or oven-safe ramekins half-full with the mixture. Sprinkle ground nutmeg on the top of each cup.
Place the ramekins in a oven safe pan (like a large baking dish), and fill the dish with the hot water to create a water bath for your custard cups. The water should go halfway up the sides of the cups. (This ensures they cook gently and evenly).
Bake for 35-55 minutes, or until the custards are set but still “loose”. (I check by touching the top lightly with my finger, if it is still liquid, keep cooking until they are set. A little jiggle is OK, though.)
Remove from the oven and serve immediately if you like warm custard (I don’t). Otherwise, refrigerate for up to 24 hours before serving for a silky smooth, chilled treat.
Duck egg yolks are thicker, so it helps to whisk the egg first before adding anything else, so as not to overmix. They have more protein, so your baked good will rise higher. The batter will be moister, and sometimes adding cooking time is necessary, especially for things that are already moist like brownies.
Egg custard is a variation on cream custard. Egg custurd is a tick rich creamy sweet or savory dessert, made mixtures of eggs or egg yolks, milk or cream, flavorings (vanilla, nutmeg, etc.) and optionally, sweeteners (sugar, honey). Basic custards are thickened and set by eggs alone.
Why does my egg custard pie taste like scrambled eggs? Overbaked custard can lead to an eggy flavor and rubbery consistency. Make sure to bake the custard pie until slightly jiggly in the center.
Egg yolk also contains enzymes like amylase, which can break down added starch. This enzyme activity contributes to the overall thinning of custard in the mouth. Egg yolk lecithin also helps to maintain the milk-egg interface. The proteins in egg whites are set at 60–80 °C (140–180 °F).
The extra-large yolk of duck eggs helps baked goods rise higher, so you'll suddenly be enjoying the richest cookies, biggest cakes, and fluffiest pancakes you've ever made. If you want it to rise, duck eggs will help - even your meringues and souffles will be more stable!
Duck eggs are roughly 30% larger than a medium chicken egg, weighing in at 3 to 3-½ ounces, so two duck eggs equals three chicken eggs if you are substituting them in a recipe, however I use them in a one-to-one ratio, even in baking, and am always happy with the results.
There are three types of custard: baked, stirred, and frozen. Baked custards include bread pudding, flan, and cheesecake, and are prepared by baking in an oven or water bath. Boiled Custards include beverages like eggnog. Puddings, creme anglaise (krem on-GLAYZ), and pastry cream are some examples of stirred custards.
Brands vary, but vanilla ice-cream typically has about 10 per cent more calories than custard, as well as twice the saturated fat, less protein and half the calcium and potassium. However, ice-cream usually has less sugar and salt, too.
Add the milk in 1/2-cup increments to bring the temperature of the eggs up gradually while whisking. Tip: Whisking the eggs with sugar helps, too. Now you can add the tempered eggs to the hot milk without worrying that the eggs will curdle or scramble. Keep stirring over medium heat as the custard thickens.
Think of it this way: poor pie dough wouldn't stand a chance (aka be a soggy mess) with a custard filling if we don't give it a head start. Hence why we pre-bake, because custard pies are too delicious to have soggy bottoms.
However if the proteins are overcooked, either by using a temperature that is too high or just cooking for too long, then the proteins will come together so tightly that they will start to squeeze out water and this causes the weeping in an egg custard (or the scientific term for this is syneresis).
No curdling: Warm milk can gently heat up eggs in custards so they don't curdle later in the process. It can cut down on cooking time a little bit, too.
You can fry duck eggs just like chicken eggs, provided they aren't huge. Up to jumbo size (2.5 ounces) will fry just fine. I prefer mine fried in bacon fat, but butter is fine.
Duck eggs cook up just the same as chicken eggs; they can be fried, scrambled, poached, and hard-boiled, in all of the usual ways eggs can be cooked. Because of their larger yolks, they might require an additional minute or so of poaching time to achieve the equivalent degree of doneness in the yolk.
Though it is not generally recommended, swapping chicken eggs for duck eggs in your baking has everything to do with calculating substitutions. The accepted standard ratio for a duck-to-chicken egg substitution is 2:3, meaning two duck eggs are equivalent to three chicken eggs.
Duck eggs are particularly good for baking as the yolks are richer with a higher fat content than hen eggs and the larger whites will add volume to cakes. If whisking duck egg whites, you may find they take longer to whisk than hen eggs as the extra protein makes them less frothy to start with.
Introduction: My name is Corie Satterfield, I am a fancy, perfect, spotless, quaint, fantastic, funny, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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