What to do when a friend drops off 2 gallons of milk and some fresh picked raspberries - Make Custard with Red Raspberry Rum Sauce

Milk and Freshly picked Red Raspberries

My dear friend, Mary, is headed off to Maine. While I will miss her while she is gone, it also means, her fridge needs to be cleared of perishable items and I just happen to the recipient of 2 gallons of milk and  just over 2 quarts of freshly picked Red Raspberries.

While I am fan of raspberries and can gobble them up on my own, my family needs a bit of coaxing. At the same time, I have been working my way through an old family cook book that I was given a few years ago for Christmas. This book is a collection of hand written recipes mixed with cut out recipes from newspapers and magazines from the early 1900's. It is a real prize.

Combine the two situations and I ended up with Custard with Raspberry sauce.  The best part of this recipe is most of the work is done by the oven, so I can keep watching physics lectures and studying for the MCAT.

Custard:

6 eggs
1 quart of milk (4 cups)
dash of salt
scrapings of 1/2 vanilla bean or a dash of vanilla extract
1 cup of sugar
butter or spray for the pan


Red Raspberry Rum Sauce:
1 quart of Red Raspberries
a shot of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
a dash of salt
a dash of vanilla extract (or just throw in the scraped vanilla bean)

Make your own water bath

Crack the 6 eggs and pour them into a bowl. Mix aggressively for at least 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of sugar, (I used vanilla sugar.), a dash of salt, and a dash of vanilla extract or scrape part of a vanilla bean.  Mix well. Add 1 quart of milk. ( You could also use half and half or cream if you are wanting something a bit richer.) Pour the mixture into an oven proof container or bowl. Set that inside of another larger container or bowl. Add enough water in the larger container to reach about half of the smaller container. Carefully place in an oven that has been preheated to 300 degrees. Let is slowly bake for one hour.

Red Raspberry Rum Sauce

In the meantime, gather a saucepot and add the raspberries, a shot of rum, a dash of salt and a splash of vanilla. Add about a cup of sugar (again I used vanilla sugar). Let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes on medium heat.

When you can run a knife in the center of the custard and it comes out clean, you know the custard is cooked through.

With the sauce, you have options. You can leave it with the seeds and bits of raspberry or if you prefer a smoother sauce, you can pour the sauce through a strainer lined with cheesecloth.

Let the sauce cool a bit and the custard cool a bit. When it is time to serve, a spoonful of custard (or two) and a drizzle of sauce and you are ready to dig in. Such an easy dessert and just delish! Thanks, Mary!