My favorite food Christmas tradition... Ma Perry's boiled custard
Course Beverages, Dessert, Sweet Treats
Cuisine American, Southern, Southern Desserts
Author Wendy Perry
Ingredients
½gallonsweet milk*
2tall cans (12 ounce) Pet milk
1 ½cupssugar
6largeeggs, blended till frothy
1tablespoonsvanilla
Instructions
Over double boiler in thickest pot add milks and sugar. Stir constantly until this ALMOST boils. (This can take up to about 30minutes.)
Slowly pour in the eggs,stirring rapidly with whisk to keep them from "cooking" when added. Bring mixture to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium, stirring often.
Continue to cook for about 45 minutesor until custard coats metal spoon. Remove from heat. Add 1tablespoon vanilla and more sugar if necessary.
Cool in freezer until freezing begins around edges. Shake and serve. The consistency should be somewhat thick but still pourable.
Notes
*In the old days, "sweet milk" was often used when referring to whole milk so as to not confuse with buttermilk.This boiled custard has always been a family tradition for us Perrys. I was only 12 when my Mama Perry (“Ma Pur” to us) left us, but she made lots of this for our big family to enjoy at every Christmas gathering. She would also sit out a bowl of sweetened strawberries she had "put up" from the summer before. Some like it with a dollop of the berries while some just want it plain. I love it either way. When my mama was sick with Ovarian Cancer, the chemo would wreak havoc on her taste buds and appetite. But she would ask me to make her some of this when she couldn't eat or keep anything else down. She would get good nourishment and protein from the custard, and sometimes I would freeze in little cups she could enjoy like ice cream! On a funny note... when my sister Tiana was getting married years ago, we played a game at her bachelorette party where she had to answer questions I asked her then fiancé Matt in advance to see how well they knew each other. I asked him what was something he didn't like to eat that she thought he did like. His answer was "custard," and although I thought that was a weird answer, I didn't think any more about it. At her party, I don't remember her answer, but it wasn't custard! When I told her he said that, she was bumfuzzled. As soon as we got back home, we asked him about this custard thing. He blushed and with trepidation said... "you know that custard stuff your family has EVERY Christmas? Well I don't like it!" We just died laughing at him... over the years, he has come to like it, but at that stage in his entry into our family, pretended to like our custard tradition when he couldn't stand it. We kept him anyway