Which custard do you prefer?

I am experimenting with custard recipes. Each one seems to be slightly off in some way. I think custard is something that needs to be perfectly executed or it is not palatable.
So anyway.....
Do you like custards better with egg,geletin,agar,other. I am curious on what your thoughts are on what is perfect custard too. I like mine barely set.

My favorite form of custard is flan, or créme caramel as it's called in French. It's a baked egg custard with caramel topping. To make it you put a layer of caramel in a baking pan or custard cups, add egg custard and bake it. When it's cooled you reverse it on a plate (or plates if you've made individual ones). There recipes under both names in many cookbooks and food websites

If it doesn't have eggs in it, it's not custard, it's something else. Like panna cotta, which is set with gelatin.

I like custard any way it comes -- though, as rickster notes, custard does mean eggs. (Though I also love panna cotta.)

I love the English pouring custard (aka, in France, creme anglaise). I love flan and creme caramel. I love Chinese and Japanese steamed eggs (savory custards). Quiche, too.

While I enjoy eating all of these, I have more experience making the Asian savory custards -- but it's just about the same rules.

Yum, custard.

I have a Betty Crocker's New Picture Cookbook, First Edition, from 1961. Growing up, we called it "sick custard," because it was a special treat my mother would prepare when one was in bed sick. I have tried it out on my wife and her sister; they think getting sick is significantly improved by the presence of custard.

In the Dessert Sauces section, "Betty" has an "Easy Custard Sauce", which is simply the "Rich Custard Filling" thinned with a couple cups of milk to the desired consistency. The "Rich Custard Filling" is like this; the instructions are mine, but follow the same course as the original recipe:

1/2 c sugar
1/3 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 c milk
2 eggs, beaten (or 4 egg yolks)
2 t vanilla

Mix your dry goods in a medium saucepan. Stir in the milk. Over medium heat, vigilantly stir until it boils. Allow it to boil for 1 minute. Hope your pan's big enough that you don't get custard all over the stove. Pull it away from the heat and pour some into the eggs. This'll heat up the eggs gradually, so you don't end up with a custardy egg scramble. Which might be good, but isn't what you're after. Dump the eggy-custardy mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the custard. Return to the heat and heat it back up to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat and mix in the vanilla. Thin, if you feel the urge. Feast. Best performed alone, or in the company of one other favorite person - more folks mean less custard for the cook.


-jbn