Super Simple Melt in Your Mouth Natural Custard Recipe

Sometimes you need a little indulgent treat to top off the tummy after a delicious meal. But if you’re trying to avoid white refined sugar most store-bought custards or even custard recipes you find online are a pretty big no-no.

Maple syrup comes to the rescue in this delicious melt-in-your-mouth treat that keeps you satisfied – I love that there is no refined sugar added; it is super simple to make with real natural ingredients. Plus homemade custard doesn’t contain any artificial flavors, preservatives, or wheat-based thickening agents that some store custards do.

I even have this yummy maple custard as a snack because of the protein from the eggs, calcium from the dairy, and the energy I get from the maple syrup. (sounds downright good for you when you think of all the real whole food ingredients)

So without further ado…

Our Super Simple Natural Custard Recipe

simple natural custard recipe

• 6 farm-fresh eggs
• 3 cups whole milk
(milk alternatives can also be used: coconut, almond, hemp, etc..)
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• nutmeg (optional)

Making Custard: Preparation and Baking

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2) Whisk together eggs, salt, milk, and vanilla – blend in maple syrup (yes it really is that easy)
3) Pour into 8×8 (or 2 Liter) glass baking or casserole dish
3) Bake for 40-50 min (until nice and brown on top and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean)
4) Serve warm or cold, sprinkle with nutmeg (or we love it with pumpkin spice)
5) Enjoy!

Extra Tips for Making Perfect Baked Egg Custard

While I love this custard recipe because it is so simple, baking any egg dish takes a bit of practice to get the texture right. Here are a few tips and extra methods for making a great custard.

Eggs:

Using the freshest eggs you can find when making egg custard is the key. We are lucky enough to have a local small farm where we get fresh pastured eggs. If you can’t get pasture-raised eggs opt for organic eggs for the most health benefit (the more orange the egg yolk the more nutrients).

Beat the eggs gently with a wire whisk before adding in the other ingredients. Your custard will come out much smoother. Also, beating the eggs lightly prevents air bubbles from forming which changes the texture of the custard.

Strain the eggs:

A simple tip for a smooth creamy custard is to strain the egg mixture before cooking. This removes any unmixed egg whites which let your custard get its smooth on so to speak. A smooth custard is a happy custard.

Water Bath:

While you don’t need a water bath (I’ve made some great custard with the no-frills method I mentioned above) a water bath ensures your custard is cooked evenly. Also, if you choose to bake your custard in ramekins a water bath is essential.

To make a water bath, place the baking dish or ramekins into a deep baking dish lined with a tea towel. Add hot water into the lined baking dish about 2/3 the way up until it reaches the level of the custard inside the ramekins or dish.

A water bath or bain-marie (the Fancy Nancy name) protects the custard from the direct heat of the pan bottom, this assures the custard cooks gently and doesn’t overheat and separate.
simple baked custard recipe
Timing:

Making egg custard is a delicate balance when it comes to timing because you don’t want to overcook your custard. A trick is to shake the baking pan to check for doneness.

Does your custard wiggle only slightly when you shake it? Then do a happy dance because it is ready to be taken out of the oven and enjoyed!

If your eggs don’t have that nice jiggle, they are overcooked and the custard won’t have the proper texture.

Do you have a delicious homemade custard recipe you really love? Let us know; we always like trying healthy new recipes. And remember sharing feels good – please share this simple custard recipe with at least a million friends (that’s a lot of feelgood-ness)

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25 comments

  1. GiGi Eats Celebrities

    So you never mentioned the milk in the recipe instructions. Does that mean you don’t need to use it because I don’t drink milk! I hope not cause other wise this looks great!

    • Thanks for catching that. (all fixed) 🙂 Yes, it does need milk, but we have made it with Lactaid milk if you are avoiding milk because of an intolerance.

  2. Hi
    I am a real custard lover. My sister even more and will basically have the custard on its own. Going to have to give this recipe a go. Just have to keep it away from my sister only joking.

    Thanks lee

  3. Probably my favorite dessert ever. I have some raw milk to use up before we go away on vacation so maybe I’ll make this tonight 😉

  4. Sounds wonderful. Question: Could I just use egg yolks in place of egg whites in this recipe? Thanks!

    • Thanks Amy, good question. The whole eggs in a baked custard have proteins that coagulate (the whites contain a lot of the protein) with gentle heat which gives the custard its firmness. If you only used the yolks in a baked custard I don’t think it would set quite as nicely. If you are making a stirred custard using just the yolks is actually preferred as yolk only custard is very luscious and creamy. But my philosophy is give it a try, recipes are meant to be experimented with. 🙂

  5. I followed the directions perfectly and my end result was a NOT-so-good texture and it just fell apart. : (

    • Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you Penny. Custards can be tricky if it is cooked too long or not long enough or the eggs are beat with a bit too much gusto it can all effect the texture. I hope you give it another shot and have better luck. 🙂

  6. Thanks for this post. Home made things are always healthy and the preparation process of this custard recipe is vary clear to me. Now i want to try it.

  7. You don’t need to grease the pan before pouring the egg mixture into it??? Thx! Going to try it with my farm fresh eggs!

  8. Suzann Martinez

    Can you substitute almond or coconut milk for the whole milk?

  9. Yes, I’m going to have to make this…yummmmm! …. Maple syrup really sounds great! I have some I got up in New Hampshire …& this looks like a too yummy way to use it besides pancakes! Thank you‼️😋‼️

  10. I love custard and this recipe sounds amazing since I also love maple syrup. I appreciate the tips for baking a good custard since I have had some epic fails. You think it is easy and it is but it is not easy to have the custard cook properly which I learned when I tried to make a custard pie! I bet this would work as a pie filling, too.

    • Custard is pretty easy to mess up, I agree – those eggs can be pretty delicate to cook with. But we’ve had some great luck with this recipe. It never lasts long once it is out of the oven. 🙂

      • can you substitute honey for the maple syrup?

        • I haven’t tried it with honey, you could certainly give it a try and let us know how it goes 🙂 You may have to adjust the amount of honey depending on sweetness and consistency, and perhaps the baking time – yummy experiment though.

  11. Can I use unsweetened coconut milk and stevia or the coconut milk with the maple syrup

  12. I don’t know how long ago you put this online but it looks to be an interesting recipe. I used to make egg custard all the time.it is my husbands favorite and he recently asked me to make it which I am doing tomorrow as we are getting together with friends for a home cooked dinner, custard and our homemade marble game…lol…just thought I’d throw that in.
    My usual recipe consists of 6 eggs, milk, vanilla, salt and sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Anyway one time I made this while we were stationed in Japan and living off base we had to use a propane stove which I really didn’t like to use. So this time I decided to use my microwave. It was pretty good sized as I had doubled the recipe and used one of my large square casserole dishes. Every 10 or 15 minutes I would pull it out and stir it and it did take a long time to cook but I have to say it was THEE best custard I ever ate in my life! I don’t know if I could make it like that again, just because it was so time consuming but again thee best!!

    • Thanks for stopping by Shirley. Microwave custard sounds interesting. I wonder if the extra stirring helped it become more creamy. Kinda like a slow cooker method of making custard slow and easy cooking makes for some great food. 🙂

  13. This is my favorite custard recipe. I have made this at least eight times. I always beat the eggs separately as a first step. I just made the custard with soy milk.YUM!

  14. Has anyone tried this with honey? Maple syrup is not available where I live.

  15. This egg custard is delicious & so easy!!!

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