Hi there,

I was wondering if I could get some advice. I'm making a friend's wedding cake. She wants custard and raspberries in the middle. I tried the vanilla custard recipe on this site, but it came out too soupy. Not sure what I would have done wrong. If I cooked it any longer, it def would have had lumps.

Do you have a nice thick recipe? Thanks! Michele

I use a thermometer in my custard while I am stirring. It is done when it reaches the right temp (in recipe or research for type of custard), and it coats the back of a wooden spoon.

You can add some cornstarch to your recipe if you are worried about it not getting thick enough. With custard, you just have to get the feel for it. I am a very experienced baker and I made a custard filling at Christmas that was different from any I had come across.

The first one was not thick enough, so I threw it out and immediately added some cornstarch and let it get slightly hotter the second time. Not only was it perfect, but it was the best fiiling I have ever made. My point is, on some techniques, you just have to practice until you get the feel of it.

Most likely, it either did not get hot enough or it did not cook long enough. You can cook a custard a little hotter and a little longer with a thermometer and an ice bath ready to cool it down quickly when you take it off the burner.

Thanks for the advice. I will try that.

Good luck!

You can also strain custard if you are worried about lumps.

I like my custard thick, my trick is to stir stir stir with silicone spatula, when steam starts rising, right before you get your 1st bubble, take it off the stove, stir stir stir, let it cool an minute, then put it back on the burner, repeat. I'll do this until it's pretty thick hot (check on back of spatula also). Then I strain it, just to be safe. As soon as it's cooled it should be super thick.

I do this with my custard creams and curds.