Custard has to be rich and creamy. Use Rice Dream and you'll achieve this with much less fat and fewer calories than milk.

Ingredients

500ml Vanilla, Calcium or Organic Rice Dream
1 vanilla pod
5 egg yolks
100g golden caster sugar

Method

1. Pour the Rice Dream into a pan and place over a low heat.
2. Split the vanilla pod lengthways and run the blade of your knife along it to extract the many seeds.
3. Add the pod and seeds to the Rice Dream and warm very gently.
4. Combine the egg yolks and sugar until smooth.
5. Pour about half of the Rice Dream on to the egg mixture.
6. Whisk gently until smooth, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining Rice Dream.
7. Stirring continuously, warm the custard over a low heat until it starts to thicken.
8. Keep running the spoon around the edges of the pan to make sure everything is evenly stirred.
9. The custard will be ready when it coats the back of a spoon and when you run your finger through it, the trail will remain sharp-edged.
10. Serve over steamed puddings, pies or stewed fruits.

A classic crème Anglaise will be about the consistency of single cream. To thicken it up and also stabilise it as it cooks, whisk 2 tsp cornflour in with the egg yolks and sugar.

Nutrition

Per serving:

Calories 187kcal
Carbohydrates 30.5g
of which sugars 24g
Fat 6.5g
of which saturates 1.7g
Salt 0.1g
Calcium 145mg