Custard with Caramelized Peaches

My friend, neighbor, workout buddy, and fellow food blogger Cheryl posted this recipe for custard on her blog a few weeks ago. I'd never made custard, but it looked and sounded delicious and since my Spanish Flan was all gone, it was time for a new dessert. Custard is very similar to pudding, but is thicker since it uses egg for the binding. I found this info LovetoKnow Recipes, a site that has a custard recipe for almost every letter of the alphabet. I had no idea there were so many custard possibilities! I didn't have a lot of blueberries, just enough for a few sprinkles, so decided to make caramelized peaches too. Caramelizing the peaches made them sweeter, softer and created a lovely peach syrup that was excellent drizzled over the custard and blueberries. 

Custard
Thanks Cheryl!

Printable Version


Ingredients
4 large eggs
1/4 cup 
4 cups half and half (Cheryl and I both used Fat Free and it was still deeelicious!)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
In a small bowl whisk together the eggs and the cornstarch, whisking until the cornstarch is completely absorbed. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the half and half. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining half and half, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil. Whisk 1/4 cup of the boiling mixture into the eggs, then slowly pour all of the egg mixture back into the boiling half and half, whisking constantly. The mixture will become very thick. 

Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and butter. Transfer to a bowl and immediately press a piece of greased plastic wrap over the top of the cream to prevent a "skin" from forming. Top with fruit of your choice.

Caramelized Peaches from Real Simple Recipes
*Note: I cut this recipe in 1/2 because I only had 3 peaches!**
Printable Version

Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 peaches, unpeeled

Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9 X 13 baking dish, combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, and 1/4 cup of water. Place the dish in the heating oven until the butter melts (about 3 minutes). Remove from the oven and stir to combine.

Cut each peach in half and remove the pits. Arrange the peach halves in the dish cut side down. Roast until the peaches are tender, about 20 minutes. Once cool, slip the peach skins off and discard.