Buttermilk

Buttermilk Sage Custards - The Pretty One

by:
January  2, 2012
4
2 Ratings
Buttermilk Sage Custards - The Pretty One
  • Serves 4 custards
Author Notes

My first go at this - The Ugly One - tastes good, and it has a walnut-ey in-custard thing going on - but it's butt ugly. The version keeps the custard clean and smooth, and the walnuts in a saged cheese crumble on top. It's prettier. It's more elegant. I like it better. —aargersi

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • The Custards
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 6 fresh sage leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 strips orange peel
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk (I use full fat)
  • 3 large eggs
  • Walnut Sage Crumb
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
  • 4 sage leaves
Directions
  1. The Custards
  2. Bring the cream, sage, orange peel, salt and pepper to a simmer. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool and infuse for at least a half hour.
  3. Remove the peels and sage leaves, scrape off as much of the cream as you can (this will also squeeze out more flavor). Whisk the eggs and buttermilk in with the cream.
  4. Spray 4 ramekins with no stick (it just plain old works better than butter). Pour the custard evenly into them, put them in a larger dish and fill that halfway with water. Put them into a cold oven and turn the heat to 350. Once the preheat dinger goes off, set the time for 30 minutes. The custards should be nicely set and not jiggly in the middle. Allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes, you can also serve room temp or cold.
  1. Walnut Sage Crumb
  2. Toast the walnuts - I do this in a skillet but you could also pop them in the oven with the custards for about 10 minutes.
  3. Pulse the walnuts, cheese and sage in a processor until it is a coarse crumb. I have a mini one that is perfect for jobs like this.
  4. Cover each custard cup with a small plate and flip. Top each custard with some of the crumble and serve - no need to dim the lights!!!
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aargersi

Recipe by: aargersi

Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop

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13 Reviews

aargersi
aargersi January 5, 2012
Hey there! Thanks so much for the nice comments and YES to the weird gray walnut problem! That's why I used them as a crumble for this one. Half baking might work! I love custards, they are forgiving - and I love buttermilk. You know I thought about creme fraische or sour cream - I think a full fat yogurt would add a really nice tartness. The buttermilk stays smooth in the custard but when I tried to infuse it, it broke (thus the heavy cream - old faithful)
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. January 5, 2012
aa, this is so sophisticated lovely.that touch of orange is brilliant. Maybe i missed your explanation but i'm guessing the 1st version was ugly because the walnuts made it a grey brown color? you know what i was wondering? what if you half baked the custards so they're solid in the bottom half(to be the top half after flipping) and then placed into the middle of each a ball of chevre mixed w/ cream and walnuts. or maybe if you just sprinkled walnuts at the half- cooked stage, they would only sink down til they hit the cooked custard, so they wouldn't show when you flipped the custards.....?

so intrigued by the buttermilk. i love tartness. does the buttermilk keep a smooth mixture where yoghurt would curdle? i wonder how the thick creamy greek yoghurt would work in place of the bmilk....

You should be wicked proud of yourself with this one!
 
aargersi
aargersi January 5, 2012
Hey there! Thanks so much for the nice comments and YES to the weird gray walnut problem! That's why I used them as a crumble for this one. Half baking might work! I love custards, they are forgiving - and I love buttermilk. You know I thought about creme fraische or sour cream - I think a full fat yogurt would add a really nice tartness. The buttermilk stays smooth in the custard but when I tried to infuse it, it broke (thus the heavy cream - old faithful)
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. January 5, 2012
aa, this is so sophisticated lovely.that touch of orange is brilliant. Maybe i missed your explanation but i'm guessing the 1st version was ugly because the walnuts made it a grey brown color? you know what i was wondering? what if you half baked the custards so they're solid in the bottom half(to be the top half after flipping) and then placed into the middle of each a ball of chevre mixed w/ cream and walnuts. or maybe if you just sprinkled walnuts at the half- cooked stage, they would only sink down til they hit the cooked custard, so they wouldn't show when you flipped the custards.....?

so intrigued by the buttermilk. i love tartness. does the buttermilk keep a smooth mixture where yoghurt would curdle? i wonder how the thick creamy greek yoghurt would work in place of the bmilk....

You should be wicked proud of yourself with this one!
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. January 5, 2012
aa, this is so sophisticated lovely.that touch of orange is brilliant. Maybe i missed your explanation but i'm guessing the 1st version was ugly because the walnuts made it a grey brown color? you know what i was wondering? what if you half baked the custards so they're solid in the bottom half(to be the top half after flipping) and then placed into the middle of each a ball of chevre mixed w/ cream and walnuts. or maybe if you just sprinkled walnuts at the half- cooked stage, they would only sink down til they hit the cooked custard, so they wouldn't show when you flipped the custards.....?

so intrigued by the buttermilk. i love tartness. does the buttermilk keep a smooth mixture where yoghurt would curdle? i wonder how the thick creamy greek yoghurt would work in place of the bmilk....

You should be wicked proud of yourself with this one!
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. January 5, 2012
aa, this is so sophisticated lovely.that touch of orange is brilliant. Maybe i missed your explanation but i'm guessing the 1st version was ugly because the walnuts made it a grey brown color? you know what i was wondering? what if you half baked the custards so they're solid in the bottom half(to be the top half after flipping) and then placed into the middle of each a ball of chevre mixed w/ cream and walnuts. or maybe if you just sprinkled walnuts at the half- cooked stage, they would only sink down til they hit the cooked custard, so they wouldn't show when you flipped the custards.....?

so intrigued by the buttermilk. i love tartness. does the buttermilk keep a smooth mixture where yoghurt would curdle? i wonder how the thick creamy greek yoghurt would work in place of the bmilk....

You should be wicked proud of yourself with this one!
 
arielleclementine
arielleclementine January 4, 2012
that is one sexy little custard.
 
hardlikearmour
hardlikearmour January 4, 2012
Gorgeous! This one is fancy enough for company, and I bet it tastes fantastic.
 
Sagegreen
Sagegreen January 3, 2012
Oh yum!!! Love this I was dreaming of this...but was resisting the temptation with a darned new years resolution
 
boulangere
boulangere January 2, 2012
They're both delicious, and both lovely. Would make a fantastic side.
 
inpatskitchen
inpatskitchen January 2, 2012
Both are lovely (but this one IS prettier!)
 
gingerroot
gingerroot January 2, 2012
This is gorgeous and I love the buttermilk addition.
 
drbabs
drbabs January 2, 2012
You're right--this one is much more appetizing! (Both sound delicious.)