Today I baked another test cake in preparation for the "real deal" on 4/15. I made an almond custard filling, that I got from this site, that was absolutely delicious. When I put the custard between my cake layers, assembled and iced the cake, and then cut the cake for serving, the custard was on the runny side. I did pipe icing around the bottom layer and then filled in the center with the custard. It had also been refrigerated before I cut it. I would like the custard to be thicker and hold its shape and not run. How can I adjust my recipe to accomplish this? Less water? More cornstarch? More egg yolks? A combination there of?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Here's the recipe:


1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract

1 Mix nonfat dry milk, cornstarch, and sugar together in a medium sized saucepan. Stir in a mixture of water and egg yolks gradually, until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and smooth. Continue to cook while stirring over low heat for one minute longer. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Allow custard to cool before using.

You could play around with increasing the cornstarch. I would try 1 extra tablespoon in your first attempt and see how that works.

Good Luck!

Yay! Somebody answered! Thanks Ellen. I figured adding a little extra cornstarch would be the place to start. do you think I should decrease the water by a small amount? The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of water and I am thinking about decreasing it by up to 1/4 of a cup.

I would also increase the cornstarch...but leave everything else

Don't increase the cornstarch, it won't help.

The problem is that the bonds that cornstarch forms when you cook it are very, very delicate. And when you stir or play with the custard too much, it breaks the bonds. No amount of cornstarch will fix this.
(Look it up in the joy of cooking)

What I would suggest would be increasing the eggs, perhaps using a whole egg to replace one yolk. And using whole milk instead of the milk powder/water.

Heat milk and 1/2 the sugar over low/med heat 'til boiling.
Meanwhile whisk eggs, sugar and cornstarch together in a bowl.
Temper the eggs with the milk, put mixture back on stove and bring to a boil over med/low heat, stirring constantly, boil for one full minute.
Quickly Add flavoring, cool, place in cake.

(edited for horrible spelling)

Would it help to add a bit of gelatin?

Gelatin can help, make sure you bloom it well first and then dissolve it separately and then add while you are cooking everything.

However, I would suggest that you cook it longer. You MUST stir the whole time while it is on the stove or it will burn on the bottom. Keep the heat on rather low. It should be THICK before you pull it off (like cold pudding). Make sure you have a container to pour it into before you start so it doesn't sit in the pot after you take it off the stove.

Hope this helps,
Marci

Thank you for the additional help tips.

I made another batch today. I used 1 additional T cornstarch. I slightly decreased the water. The final product does seem thicker, however I still want thicker. Alien Sunset said it would not help to add more cornstarch and I am not debating that. I am not sure why my custard seems thicker or whether it is just my imagination, but I think it is.

Alien Sunset, you said "Temper the eggs with the milk", please indulge me and tell me what that means? Way too technical for me

Marci, thanks for the tip about transferring the custard to a bowl after cooking. I did not do this either time. I just put the pot in the fridge. Maybe that change will help me as well.

You guys are great! Thank you!

I just found this on another website. Lot of info about cooking with cornstarch. What do the experts on this site think? Do you agree with what is said here?

http://www.baking911.com/howto/liquids_thicken.htm

I can't quite remember how to make custard . But to temper means that a hot mixture is stirred into the cooler. I take it,that the cooler must be the eggs. You do this to slowly raise the temp of the eggs so they won't scramble or visa-versa if it is the milk so it won't curdle. You should start with a little of the cooled mixture first and mix it well or whisk, whatever and then add the rest. If you have ever made lemon curd it is the same procedure.

Thank you for the definition of "temper" fearlessbaker.

I found another article of thickening agents on another website. I found it quite informative. I'm going to insert the link for anyone who might be as "green" as me

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/thickeners.htm

More cornstarch will make it thicker.

BUT, stirring and smoothing it onto your cake layers and the friction of a layer on top of it will break down the cornstarch bonds. So while it's thick in your pan, it will thin out and get watery in your cake.

But then, The 911 site you linked explains it quite nicely.

It did? LOL, I must have missed that I read all the parts about what to do and not to do, but didn't see anything specifying about using in a cake. I guess I'm going back and reveiwing again!

well... ok, not using it in a cake specifically but it does tell you not to stir or disturb it too much, and spooning it out and smoothing it onto a cake pretty much equals that.