Baked Apple Maple Custard #dairyfree #sugarfree

“I hope there’s pudding!”
~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This is a comforting, warm, easy-to-digest pudding that tastes delicious. It only takes a few minutes to throw together, which is also a nice bonus. I’ve long been a fan of baked custard, and I’ve modified my grandmother’s original recipe so that it is dairy free and refined sugar-free too. You are welcome to experiment with different kinds of non-dairy milk for this recipe. I’ve tried most, and they are all good.

Being a high-protein dessert, there’s no reason why you couldn’t have this on its own as a meal. When I’m feeling tired or poorly I often do.

Ingredients:

2 medium apples – peeled and cut into small chunks or slices, 6 eggs, 1/2 cup coconut cream and 2 cups of your choice of soy/almond/rice milk, 3 tablespoons maple syrup or to taste, 1 teaspoon vanilla, a little coconut oil to grease dish, grated nutmeg, cinnamon.

* Note – I have also made this with 2 1/2 cups of coconut milk instead of the coconut cream and milk of your choice. If you need this recipe to be completely sugar-free it works just fine with an equivalent amount of natural sugar substitute. I use Natvia- a form of stevia – and it tastes brilliant! 

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 150 degrees celcius or 300 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Grease a four cup capacity dish, and find a baking tray large enough for it to sit within.
3. Beat eggs, coconut cream, maple syrup, vanilla and milk together with a whisk or fork.
4. Place apple in bottom of dish and sprinkle with a teaspoon of cinnamon. Pour egg mixture into the greased dish. Don’t panic when the apple rises from the bottom. It’s meant to!
5. Grate or sprinkle nutmeg over the top of the custard. (I am a firm lover of fresh nutmeg – once you’ve tried it you’ll never go back to the packaged stuff!) 
6. Fill baking tray with cold water so that it comes halfway up the side of the custard dish.
7. Place carefully into oven and bake for 40 to 60 minutes or until set.  Custard will be firm under your touch, although it may still be a bit wobbly in the middle.  It will firm more as it cools.

*Note: Oven temperatures vary widely. You need to cook this slowly to be rewarded with a thick, well set dish. If it is cooked at too high a temperature you will have lots of bubbles in your custard. Unless you have used low temperatures in your oven before, you need to check your custard after thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, if the custard has not picked up some colour and begun to set, your oven is too slow and you will need to adjust the temperature up a little. When I cook this at my farm in my Falcon Oven which is fan-forced electric, it takes 40 minutes to bake my custard. When I cook this dish in the city, my old gas oven takes 60 minutes.

Serve hot or cold. The apple will now be soft and moist with a little caramelisation on the top of your dessert. Beneath a light fluffy layer will be a dense rich egg custard that is velvety smooth. Scrumptious!