Cinnamon Espresso Custard

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie pick was selected by Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles . She chose the Lemon Cup Custard. I follow Bridget’s blog regularly so I was really looking forward to her pick as she always makes good things.

Tuesdays with Dorie has made a couple of custards, but this one was a baked custard. One of the variations of this recipe was a cinnamon espresso custard and that is what I ended up making. Some of the other bloggers thought that the lemon custard was too eggy and not lemony enough. I decided to make the other version since I figured that the strong cinnamon and espresso flavors would stand up well to the egg flavor. Let’s be honest, it is a custard and it is going to be eggy.

The recipe is very simple: milk, eggs, sugar and flavorings. I heated the milk with cinnamon and then let it steep for 30 minutes. You then whisk the milk into the eggs, sugar, and espresso powder. Not too much mixing, and again my husband helped with the “pouring while whisking” thing. You then bake the custard in a water bath for 40 minutes until set.

I baked mine for the specified time and it seem to test done. It was a little jiggle-y still but not too set. I refrigerated it until it was completely chilled. Since I used coffee cups for the serving dish, it looked a lot like a cup of coffee.

It did seem to form a bit of a skin and the rest of the custard wasn’t the nice coffee color, in fact it was a bit on the grey side. The flavor was fine, you could taste the egg, but I didn’t mind that. But what I didn’t like was the texture; it was too firm. I’m not sure if I baked it too long, but it wasn’t creamy and that’s what I really like about custard dishes. Again, the flavor was ok but I’d rather have the flavors with a different texture.

This recipe was also super difficult to photograph, but I did my best. Check out what the other Tuesdays with Dorie bloggers made this week by visiting the Tuesdays with Dorie blog blog and check out Bridget’s blog for the complete recipe.

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 387.