Fruit custard is an easy-to-make and refreshing popular Indian dessert recipe made of a creamy custard base and a variety of fresh fruits.
The flavor and nutrients of fresh fruits are unmatched. Yet, considering our country's wealth of fruits, one is spoiled for choice when it comes to fruit-based dishes.
But on our lazy days, when all you want is something fresh and quick to make, fruit custard is one recipe that instantly comes to mind.
If you ask me, fresh fruit custard is one of my all-time favorite summer delights. I can gulp a cup of custard down at any hour of the day. The best thing is? Once you realize how simple it is to create one at home, you could find yourself doing it more frequently than usual.
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What Is Fruit Custard?
For the unversed, Fruit custard is a delightfully creamy and rich chilled dessert made with custard powder, milk, fruits, and a variety of nuts if desired. You can choose to add any of your favourite fruits, the choice is yours!
Ingredients
- Custard Powder: Custard powder helps to thicken the milk and makes the custard creamy. I recommend Brown Polson Vanilla Custard Powder.
- Milk: Use full-fat whole milk for the best results. You can also use low-fat, depending on your preference, but it will not yield the same results. If you are looking for vegan fruit custard, use almond or coconut milk.
- Sugar: use white granulated sugar.
- Assorted Fruits: You can add any variety of fresh fruits to the custard. I used mango, apple, banana, red grapes, pomegranate. Avoid citrus fruits like oranges, pineapple, and kiwi and high water content fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe.
How To Make Creamy Fruit Custard
In a small bowl, add custard powder and warm milk. Use a hand whisk to stir it thoroughly, ensuring there are no lumps. Set it aside.
Pour the whole milk into a heavy-bottom saucepan. Bring it to a gentle boil on medium-high heat. Stir occasionally.
Once the milk has boiled and begun to foam, add sugar and stir well for 1-2 minutes until it dissolves.
Then, reduce the heat to low and pour the custard powder mixture while stirring continuously. Make sure there are no lumps.
Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the custard thickens. Then, remove the custard sauce from the heat and cool to room temperature. The custard thickens as it cools down.
Note: If you want a thicker custard, cook for a few more minutes.
Then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to chill.
While the custard is cooling, wash and chop the preferred fruits into bite-sized pieces. Set them aside.
Once chilled, add the chopped fruits to the custard and gently mix everything well.
Serving Suggestion
Take two serving bowls, fill them with prepared chilled fruit custard, and top it up with a few pomegranate kernels or chopped nuts.
Tips To Make Indian-Style Fruit Custard
- No Custard Powder? I used store-bought Vanilla Custard. If you do not have custard powder, then add yellow food color, vanilla essence to the corn starch (corn flour) and mix it with the milk.
- Seasonal Fruits: Always use fresh, ripe seasonal fruits to use in the custard.
- Avoid citrus fruits and melons: Try to avoid citrus fruits like orange, mandarin, grapefruit, pineapple, and melons like watermelon and muskmelon.
- Chill the custard before adding fruits: Chilling the custard allows it to set and thicken further. This will hold the shape when combined with fruits and helps to retain the fruit's freshness.
- Add fruits just before serving: To maintain the texture and freshness of the fruits, add them just before serving. Else juice in the fruits will mix and make the custard thin.
Variations
- Other Fruits: You can add other fruits like strawberries, blueberries, papaya, cherries, pears, and green grapes.
- Add Nuts & Dry Fruits: You can add some nuts like chopped cashews, pistachios, almonds, and dried fruits like raisins or chopped dates for added sweetness.
- Canned Fruits: If you don't have fresh fruits in hand, you may also use canned fruits as an alternative to fruit custard. Indian Restaurants in the USA generally use Canned fruit cocktail mixes in fruit custard. Make sure to drain the syrup or juice before adding it to the custard.
- Flavorings: You may also use a little rose water or ground cardamom for added flavor and aroma.
If you like this recipe, then check more Fruit Dessert recipes
Fruit Custard
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons custard powder
- ¼ cup warm milk (to dissolve custard powder)
- ¼ cup sugar (adjust according to your taste)
- 2 cups assorted fruits (I used apple, banana, mango, grapes, pomegranate)
Instructions
- Add custard powder, and warm milk in a small bowl. Use a hand whisk to thoroughly stir it, making sure there are no lumps. Set it aside.
- Pour the whole milk into a heavy-bottom saucepan. Bring it to a gentle boil on medium-high heat. Stir occasionally.
- Once the milk has boiled and begun to foam, add sugar and stir well for 1-2 minutes until it dissolves.
- Then reduce the heat to low and pour the custard powder mixture while stirring continuously. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the custard thickens. Then remove from the heat and let the custard sauce cool to room temperature. The custard thickens as it cools down.Note: If you are looking for a thicker custard, cook for a few more minutes.
- Then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to chill.
- While the custard is cooling, wash and chop the preferred fruits into bite-sized pieces. Set them aside.
- Once chilled, add the chopped fruits to the custard and gently mix everything well.
Nutrition
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