Custard Pots

Pearlware artichoke-shaped custard pot and cover, part of a set, decorated with moulded leaves outlined in green. Probably manufactured in Staffordshire, c.1780s-1790s.

© Geffrye Museum, London

Who doesn't like custard?  Hot or cold; sweet or savoury; firm or wobbly, there's a custard to suit most of us. From an amalgam of around 4 parts liquid to 1 part egg and a little seasoning comes a pouring custard for a sponge pudding; a suspension for a tart or quiche; a creamy layer for cheesecake; a Crème brûlée or crema Catalana; or a luscious ice cream to appeal to all the senses of the mouth.  With a little stove-top thickening you have crème pâtissière, or confectioners' custard, stiff enough to hold its form in an English 'custard slice' or a French 'millefeuille'.  The common factor is a silky slipperiness that comforts and satisfies.

The English word 'custard' began as 'croustade', meaning a dish served in a crust.  Henry IV's coronation banquet in 1399 included a first course 'crustade' - a savoury custard pie - and a third course 'doucet' - a kind of baked custard.  Doucet means 'something sweet' and the custard would have been sweetened with sugar even though it could have been either a sweet or savoury dish.  Mixing the sweet and the savoury was very common in Medieval England.  The custard may have been made with milk and cream or, possibly, almond milk.  In fact, almost any liquid will do for a 'custard' as long as it contains some dissolved minerals.

"Mix an egg with a cup of plain water and 

you get curdled egg floating in water; include 

a pinch of salt and you get a coherent gel"

McGee on Food & Cooking

In the 18th century, when the lovely artichoke-shaped custard pots were made, custards often formed part of the second course of a meal.  The liking for both sweet and savoury custards was still evident more than 300 years after Henry IV's reign. In The Art of Cookery, first published in 1746, Hannah Glasse refers to baking custards in "little china cups".

The set of pearlware custard pots, pictured, is in the care of The Geffrye Museum of the Home.  This lovely museum in the East End of London offers a journey through the history of the English domestic interior from the 17th century to the present day.  The Geffrye acquired the glazed earthenware set at the 2010 Bonham's auction The Sampsom and Horne Collection: Defining the British Vernacular.  Moulded leaves run in bands of ten around the body of the pot, the topmost level standing proud.  The green colour painted under the glaze is thanks to the elements lead and copper.  Each pot has a cover decorated with moulded leaves and a bud-shaped finial.  A shallow rectangular tray, with moulded foliate handles picked out in green, completes the set.

Pearlware tray with 10 pearlware artichoke-shaped custard cups and covers, c.1780 - 1800

Probably manufactured in Staffordshire, c.1780s-1790s.

© Geffrye Museum, London

Custards served in these particular pots may have included artichoke.  They might equally have included bone marrow or minced pork.  They may have offered up a plain sweet custard, perhaps flavoured with orange-flower water.  Surprise was the thing with custards and the design of the custard pot was part of the game.

"The development of pearlware by Josiah Wedgwood was in response 

to his concern that the popularity of Queen's ware would reduce its cachet, 

and therefore would eventually be seen as vulgar and common."

The Wedgwood Museum

The Wedgwood Museum has a less elaborate Custard Cup, dating from 1775, in their collection .  An article by Terence A. Lockett on the website thepotteries.org makes the case for pearlware having been produced before it was taken up by Wedgwood, suggesting the original potters knew it as 'China glazed' whilst Wedgwood termed his 'Pearl White'.  Who made this example is unknown, though it's thought to have been made in a Staffordshire pottery.  

Today 'custards pots' (for eating) are to be found in many forms.  Flavoured with orange or lemon, rose or orange-flower water, fennel seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg or saffron.  Savoury custards are still very much on the menu.  Vegetable and meat broths work very well for this.  The Japanese use either bonito or chicken broths to make a soft custard (chawan-mushi) and a firm one (tamago dofu).  Custard pots should be treated with delicacy.  Cooking on a low heat in a water bath is the the way.

For an English recipe contemporary with these beautiful pots, I offer you Elizabeth Raffald's Orange Custards which comes via English Food by Jane Grigson.  Elizabeth Raffald lived from 1733-1781, her book The Experienced English Housekeeper being  published in 1769.

Elizabeth Raffald's Orange Custards (Serves 8-10)
Rind of half a Seville orange
1 tablespoon brandy or orange liqueur
Juice of 1 Seville orange
125g (4 oz) granulated sugar
6 large egg yolks
300ml (10 fl oz) double cream
300ml (10 fl oz) single cream
Candied orange peel

Heat the oven to 160C (140C fan)/Gas 3.
Remove the rind from the orange with a potato peeler and simmer in water for 2 minutes.  Drain it and place in a blender with the brandy/liqueur, orange juice, sugar and egg yolks.  Blend at high speed until the peel is left slightly gritty in the mixture.  Combine the creams and bring to the boil.  Add gradually to the mixture in the blender.  Taste and add more sugar and orange juice if necessary.
Pour into the custard pots or small soufflé dishes.  Place them in a pan of hot water and put into the oven for about 30 minutes, until just set.  Serve warm or cold with a little candied peel for decoration.

To be honest I found the dish a little too rich and 'eggy' tasting when I tested it. I wonder if Jane Grigson felt the same way as she seemed to return to the recipe in her later Fruit Book.  Here the recipe for  Orange Custards differs in egg content.  One to try another time.

Here's a modern take on a savoury custard which I can heartily recommend, particularly if you serve it with anchovy toasts.  It's based on Rowley Leigh's sublime Parmesan Custard recipe.  Disappointingly it doesn't appear in his, as yet, only book No Place Like Home, but he did generously give it away a few years ago.

Rowley Leigh's Parmesan Custard (serves 8)
300ml (10fl oz) single cream
300ml (10 fl oz) milk
100g (3½ oz) finely grated parmesan cheese
4 egg yolks
Salt & white pepper 
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Heat oven to 150C (130C fan)/Gas 2
Mix cream, milk and all but 1 tablespoon of the parmesan cheese in a bowl.  Warm gently over a pan of  boiling water until the cheese melts.  Take the bowl off the pan and allow the mixture to cool completely before whisking in the egg yolks, salt, white pepper and cayenne.
Pour the mixture into 8 lightly buttered 80ml (3 fl oz) china moulds.  Place in a pan of just boiled water.  Cover with buttered paper and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until just set.
Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of parmesan over the custards and brown slightly under a hot grill.

Serve hot with this variant on Rowley Leigh's fantastic:

Anchovy Toasts (serves 8)
12 anchovy fillets
50g (2 oz) unsalted butter
8 very thin slices of bread (preferably pain de campagne)

Mash the anchovies and butter to a smooth paste.  Toast the bread slices.  Spread with the anchovy butter and cut into fingers.

Sources:
With special thanks to The Geffrye Museum of the Home

Bonham
The Potteries
The Wedgwood Museum
The Old Foodie
McGee on Food & Cooking
English Food by Jane Grigson
Rowley Leigh at Le Cafe Anglais