Chocolate Custard: A Special Sweet with a Delish Dessert Recipe and Its History

While the dessert celebration days are something of a US invention, we are least bothered about the geographical demarcations. Because one hardly needs a day to celebrate or an excuse to dig into desserts. As for the chocolate custard, there is a day dedicated to it, in fact, it happens to be 3 May, the peak of summer when the chilly chocolatey goodness of the custard provides a soothing relief and refreshes as well as indulges you. Chocolate custard is similar to pudding and some folks also call it such and there’s no correct way to address it either because it's been around since the fall of the Roman Empire. 

Where and Where Did This Day Come From?

While the origins of this particular celebration remain unclear, the history of chocolate custard itself can be traced back centuries. Custards have their roots in the Middle Ages when the Roman Empire was declining, they were baked as custard tarts back then. But what about the name? The name, "custard" is from the French word “croustade”, which refers to the crust of a tart, there’s an interesting bit of history here. These ancient custards were quite different from what we consider custards today and were anything but sweet and the “tarts” were filled with ingredients like meat, fish, or fruit, rather than the sweet custards we are accustomed to today.  These early custards were mentioned in the 14th-century collection of Medieval English recipes called “The Forme of Cury”. 

While the exact beginnings of chocolate custard are unknown, chocolate pudding, a close cousin, has been around since the 1800s. Towards the end of the 19th century, chocolate pudding was viewed as a suitable dish for invalids and children, as well as a dessert. It started to gain popularity soon after and was first documented in a 1900s cookbook. Thus, one of the earliest known recipes for chocolate custard appeared in Fannie Farmer's 1918 cookbook in Boston. Fast forward to 1934, General Foods introduced chocolate pudding to consumers under the name "Walter Baker's Dessert," which was later changed to "Pickle's Pudding" in 1936.

Today, chocolate custard falls under the broader category of chocolate pudding, though custards can be made firmer with the addition of starch or baked into cakes. National Chocolate Custard Day celebrates this thick pudding-like dessert, constructed, deconstructed or eaten like a simple boiled then chilled dessert. 

Pudding vs Custard

Pudding and custard are closely related desserts, and the terms are often used interchangeably where both terms mean the same thing at times, but there are differences. Pudding is a milk or cream-based dessert thickened with cornstarch or flour, and cooked on the stovetop. Custard, on the other hand, is thickened by eggs or egg yolks without the need for starch, but sometimes the eggless version of it is made exactly like a pudding. As for custard, when made it is made with eggs, is typically firmer in texture compared to pudding. While both can be used in trifles or parfaits, custard is more commonly found in restaurant desserts like crème brûlée or baked into pies and bread puddings. Custards are almost always made to be incorporated into other desserts and pudding are mostly eaten like a dessert without being used as fillers for other desserts. 

Chocolate Custard Recipe

Ingredients

• 530 ml milk
• 30 gm custard powder/cornstarch
• 10 gm Cadbury Cocoa powder
• 75 gm granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Toppings of choice (Oreo cookies, fresh fruits or whipped cream)

Instructions

1. Pour around 400 ml of milk into a big saucepan with the sugar. Put on medium heat and wait for it to boil. Meanwhile combine the custard powder or cornstarch and cocoa powder with the rest of the milk, in a bowl, until no semi-powdery lumps remain.
2. The milk might have started boiling by now, if it has, remove it from the heat and pour the custard liquid into it, slowly, whisking as you do. 
3. Put the saucepan back on the stove and simmer over low heat, whisking until the liquid thickens. How to tell? Insert a spoon, if the custard sticks to it without readily sliding off, it is done and ready.
4. Pour into a bowl to mix it with the vanilla extract. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Let the liquid cool and then pop in the refrigerator to chill. Keep it overnight or around 4-6 hours for the chocolate custard to set. 
5. Top with your favourite fruits, crushed Oreo cookies or a dollop of whisked whipping cream.