Today is my sister’s birthday. Every year I ask her what kind of cake I can make her and guess what she says? “I don’t want a cake. I just want a big bowl of vanilla bean custard.” I hope you understand how hard this is for me (and please read that back to me in your most sassy little sister voice; this is all about me right?) Making elaborate birthday cakes for family and friends is my thing. It’s spawned an entire section of this site and a section of my cookbook (including my son’s 2nd my husband’s 37th and 38th and maybe even your next birthday cakes). I love finding a layered summary of everyone’s favorite things that fits into a cake box and I think it’s terribly mean of my sister to deny me this outlet every August 30th. (Huff. Puff.) A bowl of custard? Not much to say about that.
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Perfect Blueberry Muffins | Smitten Kitchen with Deb Perelman
Or maybe not if your storyteller wasn’t such a chatterbox. Namely: Custard or pastry cream is a pretty big deal in my family. My mother and sister mostly consider it one of the dessert greats while others see it as an element of grander things. It’s the filling in cream puffs and éclairs; it forms a delicious layer beneath fresh-cut strawberries or an artful arrangement of beautiful fruit. Sometimes it separates cake layers and also fills the hollows of doughnuts and Boston Cream Pies. But it rarely gets its day in the sun — or you know a single-serving bowl with a spoon — and my sister thinks it should.
Custard especially one with the streaks of a recently split vanilla bean really is the ultimate vanilla pudding. And I know I know I went on a tirade on this site not too long ago about how it irritates me when people call pudding what I actually call custard (I think of puddings as mostly a cornstarch thickener not to bore you to death with semantics) but if you were to occasionally serve custard as you would pudding I don't think you'd regret it.
So this year my sister finally got her way. I made little bowls of vanilla bean custard and topped them with lightly roasted blueberries. I know I know the blueberries weren’t requested but they are absolutely delicious now and their tartness slightly enhanced by a lemon juice finish perfectly complements the rich rich flavor of the chilled custard underneath. I just had to do it. I couldn’t resist. I suspect she expected nothing less.
