Easy Homemade Custard Made With Raw Milk

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This rich, velvety, old-fashioned, homemade custard made with raw milk & free-range egg yolks is so simple & delicious! It’s perfect plain, in parfaits, and as the base of custard pies!

a metal spoon is dipping into a yellow tasty vanilla custard made from scratch in a green serving cup on a wooden table

Having milk cows is truly wonderful. Bringing in fresh, unpasteurized milk daily is something I’ll never tire of. It’s also simply amazing to see our Jerseys turn green pasture into milk and thick Jersey cream.

However, cows make a LOT of milk. Much more than our family of 6 can consume plain. However, I find plenty of ways to use our abundance of milk. I turn it into cheeses, yogurt, kefir, butter, whipped cream, whey soups and broths – and sweet treats like this delicious old-fashioned custard.

I make a big batch of this custard every week. We always eat a little bowl warm when it’s freshly made, sprinkled with cinnamon. And then I let the rest set up in the fridge to use throughout the week eaten as a snack (it has a pudding consistency), in granola and fruit parfaits, or as the base of custard/cream pies like our very favorite old-fashioned coconut cream pie. (pictured below)

a slice of fluffy white coconut cream pie sitting on a metal pie pan

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Sourcing Ingredients

We have only lived on our farm for 5 years and have only had our own fresh milk for 1 year. Even if you don’t have your own fresh ingredients, I highly recommend sourcing them locally if you’re a from scratch cook and baker. The quality and flavor just can’t be matched! Once you get used to rich, yellow milk and cream – white milk will just seem strange. The same goes for eggs – those deep, orange, flavorful yolks and clear whites are where it’s at.

Each state has laws concerning the sales of farm-fresh foods. For example, here in MO you can only sell unwashed eggs and raw dairy straight from the farm. If you want to sell at a market you have to wash eggs and pasteurize dairy. So most of us just raise food for our own personal use or sell it from the farm.

Check out the Real Milk website to find farms near you who sell unpasteurized dairy.

With canning, preserving, cooking from scratch, cheesemaking, and so much more – I go through a TON of salt. And it’s very important to me to use pure, high quality, non-iodized salt that is safe for canning and full of essential minerals. I buy all of our salt in bulk from Redmond Real Salt. Click this link or use code HOPEWELLHEIGHTS for 15% off all Redmond Real Salt products.

a dark haired woman in a white dress in a green pasture in front of a wooden fence walking with a red jersey milk cow — Greeting one of my Jersey cows, Sally, out in the pasture with baby E in the **Solly wrap**

Homemade Custard Ingredients

1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 t salt
5 cups whole milk (use raw if you have it)
6 egg yolks (true free-range eggs with orange yolks make for a very pretty, rich custard!)
1 t vanilla
4 T butter

How to make homemade custard

Heat flour, sugar, and salt on the stove on low while whisking together milk and egg yolks in a large bowl.
Slowly pour the milk and egg yolk mixture into the sugar/flour mixture while whisking. Turn the heat up to medium-low once everything is whisked together.
Bring the custard to a boil, whisking the whole time. Allow the custard to boil for 1 minute. Then add the butter. Continue whisking for 1 more minute.
Remove the custard filling from heat and whisk in the vanilla.
Serve warm sprinkled with cinnamon or…
Pour the custard into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The wrap should be touching the top of the custard to prevent a film from forming on top. Refrigerate for 6 hours or until set.

three green cups of vanilla custard sitting on a dark wooden table

Q & A

What is custard made of?

Simple, staple ingredients – milk, egg yolks, sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla.

Can you freeze custard?

Yes! You can freeze custard. It will alter the texture, but you can gently heat it in a saucepan and whisk to restore the original, even, smooth texture.

What is custard good with?

Custard is delicious plain, sprinkled with cinnamon or nutmeg, topped with fresh fruit, layered into a granola and fruit parfait, or used as the base of custard and cream pies.

Is custard healthy?

It can be! This depends on the quality of the ingredients you use. I use organic flour instead of cornstarch, raw milk, farm fresh egg yolks, organic cane sugar, real salt, and raw butter. So I consider my custard very nutritious and healthy!

Is it safe to consume raw dairy?

Depends on who you ask. The government wants us to be dependent on them for all of our needs, including food. Maybe that’s ok with you! Maybe it raises some questions. I wrote a blog post on consuming raw dairy if you’d like to read more. In short, I and many people now and for all of history consume unpasteurized dairy products regularly without thinking twice.

Can you bake custard?

Yes! Baked custard is a favorite old-fashioned dish for many – both on it’s own and in pie. I’ve made it a few times and while it was very good, I do prefer this non-baked version.

an overhead shot of three bowls of custard and a white and purple dish towel sitting on a dark stained wooden table

How to make pies with this custard

This custard is absolutely the perfect base for no-bake custard and cream pies. It’s the base for my old-fashioned coconut cream pie and several others that I’ll be sharing here on the blog as I get to it.

Blind bake a 9″ pie shell and allow it to cool. My favorite recipe is this sourdough discard pie crust.
Prepare the custard and pour it into the pie shell while it’s still hot.
Cover with plastic wrap so the plastic is touching the top of the custard. Refrigerate the pie for at least 6 hours until the custard has set.
Serve or top with whipped cream or meringue.

Custard Made with Raw Milk

Yield: 6 servings

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes

old fashioned custard made from raw milk is the perfect sweet treat eaten plain, added to parfaits, or as the base of custard pies!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 t salt
5 cups whole milk (use raw if you have it)
6 egg yolks (true free-range eggs with orange yolks make for a very pretty, rich custard!)
1 t vanilla
4 T butter

Instructions

Make the Custard

Heat flour, sugar, and salt on the stove on low while whisking together milk and egg yolks in a large bowl.

Slowly pour the milk and egg yolk mixture into the sugar/flour mixture while whisking. Turn the heat up to medium-low once everything is whisked together.
Bring the custard to a boil, whisking the whole time. Allow the custard to boil for 1 minute. Then add the butter. Continue whisking for 1 more minute.
Remove the custard filling from heat and whisk in the vanilla.
S?erve warm sprinkled with cinnamon or...
Pour the custard into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The wrap should be touching the top of the custard. Refrigerate for 6 hours or until set.

Notes

This custard is delicious when it's fresh and warm! However it's also great once it has set and taken on more of a pudding consistency, We eat it plain, in granola and fruit parfaits, and I use it as the base of custard/cream pies.