I’m starting to get very irritated with this weather of ours. I’ve resorted to ordering everything online just so I can escape trudging through rain, sleet, wind, you name it with heavy duty boots to weigh me down. What’s made me a lot crankier too is my unsatisfied craving for Trifle. I simply haven’t been able to get out to get the right ingredients - sherry, raspberry jam and sponge fingers. So there you have it: grey weather, a grumpy person - generally a rather negative outlook. Why now … wouldn’t that be so very English then?

I was expecting Ben to come round for dinner. Perfect reason to make pud. Pud for two is always better than pud for one cause the latter is rather sad with no one to enjoy it with. Wasn’t really intending to go for a trifle, but something rather similar and simpler. Summer berries which I’d stocked up beforehand in the freezer. A good variety of raspberries, blackberries and red, black currants are great to have around for any sort of pudding. If you are one who likes the simplicity and classic element of strawbs & cream - try some berries with whipped double cream and homemade proper custard. Nothing as good, filling and quick as that. Or, welcome spring with stewed rhubard drizzled generously with warm custard.

Custard is the baby of British food. Lovely as a sauce for cakes and puds like hot brownies or bread & butter pudding, it’s simply something we cannot do without. Loads of that soaking it all up served with vanilla ice cream is the ultimate! Custard would also be the main ingredient for trifles, fools and yes, ice cream. Without that, you really haven’t got the kick in any of those puddings. It’s great as a filling for pies and other steamed puddings, the list just keeps going on. Hot or cold, custard is just as delicious served either way although I believe warm custard is one of the most comforting things ever.

Don’t be fooled. Making custard is actually surprisingly easy. You just need to be very careful of what you’re doing, have the right equipment with you - basically a good metal whisk, non-stick saucepans, a wooden spoon, and good quality ingredients - and you’re sorted. This recipe has been taken from Jamie Oliver’s Cook With Jamie. He is such a sweetheart and has been very meticulous in writing this book. I’d recommend this to anyone. It’s honestly a delightful read full of great tips for amateur and professional alike.

Proper English Custard

Ingredients

500ml/17 1/2fl oz whole milk
565ml/1 pint double cream
6tbs caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, scored lengthways and seeds removed
8 large free range egg yolks

Mix the milk, cream, 4tbs of sugar, vanilla pod and seeds together in a saucepan. Bring to the point of boiling then remove from heat and leave for a couple of minutes to cool slightly. In another large mixing bowl, whisk the yolks with the remaining sugar until pale. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk mixture, then ladle a little of it on to the yolks and whisk immediately. Add the remaining milk ladle by ladle at a time, whisking in well before adding the next. Pour the egg mixture back into the warm saucepan and cook very gently for a few minutes, stirring all the time using a wooden spoon.
Give it about 3-5min the yolks should be starting to cook, which will then thicken the custard and make it shiny. Once you can start coating the back of your wooden spoon with it, remove from heat. You have to be very careful here because cooking it for too long, on too high heat, or letting it boil will cause the custard to turn into a scrambly mixture. If it does or the top layer starts to form a shiny waxy layer, strain the mixture through a sieve into a cold saucepan. This will cool the mixture down and get any unwanted, ugly bits out of the custard.
During the cooking process, when I wasn’t too careful, I had to sieve it just to maintain the smoothness of the custard. Great trick, even for making English thin pancakes.

During the whisking process, I’d given it a lot of whisking action just to prove all my weightlifting was actually having some sort of effect on my arms. Of course, you really don’t need to overdo this. But if you like the frothy top-layer look, why not? And if there’s too much froth at the end of it, skim it off. I had a couple of spoonfuls of warm custard immediately after. It was amazing. The smell of the vanilla and the cooked milk reminds me of really good fudge. But of course, custard beats fudge hands down any day.

Anyway, last tip from Jamie. If you want to warm up cold custard, do it over a bain marie so it doesn’t curdle. Remember: custard is a very delicate sauce. Treat it like a lady!