Mortifying Mistake - Custard

As I have mentioned before, I do feature my cooking mistakes and flops on here, because I think it is important to embrace them, learn from them, and develop some critical, think-on-your-feet, problem-solving techniques. I also strive as much as possible to turn these mistakes into something still perfectly edible, if not less than perfect, or maybe not so pretty.

This mistake comes from the first time I tried to make a custard. I had never made it before, but thought i knew enough from reading recipes. I made the one easy, common mistake - I overcooked it. Even though I knew not to do this, it is difficult when you are actually in the process of making it because custard changes so quickly. Many chefs, even those well practiced in the field, have made this mistake. I am also a food-safety enthusiast, and I did not want to serve a custard with undercooked eggs.

What ended up happening, was I cooked the custard too much and ended up essentially with scrambled eggs, even though I had followed the directions. Obviously I cannot incorporate scrambled eggs into a dessert. But I tasted them, and thanks to the addition of sugar, milk, and vanilla, they were sweet, rich and flavorful. Delicious, but too sweet to put on an egg salad sandwich. And nothing I could really save at this point or transform to serve to guests. I did end up eating the custard myself though, because it was tasty and I hate to waste food. The texture was really the problem here, and as long as you don't mind eating scrambled eggs for dessert, no problems!

I am happy to report my second of trial custard went much more smoothly (no pun intended), and luckily I did not need a third or even fourth try. I learned to use low heat, indirect heat is even better, and not to make the milk to hot before adding the egg. Temper the eggs first with a spoonful of the warm milk, then slowly stream the egg in, stirring constantly. Cook until just thickened and glossy - don't second guess it, it is probably done!