Honey Custard with Sweet Cherries

Preparation

In a saucepan, slowly heat milk over medium-low heat to scalding point (180ºF) while stirring frequently. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can eyeball it. The milk is done heating when it starts to steam but hasn’t started bubbling. You don’t want it to reach a simmer or a boil, because this will cause your milk to curdle and you’ll have to start over with fresh milk.

While milk is heating, in a mixing bowl beat together eggs, honey, vanilla, salt, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Once milk has reached scalding point, remove from heat and very slowly add it to your egg mixture while vigorously beating. This will cause the custard to begin to thicken and become creamy as the eggs begin to cook, but if you aren’t beating fast enough, you’ll end up with a scrambled egg mess, so put some muscle into it!

Wipe saucepan clean with a kitchen towel, add custard mixture back into it, and return pot to a medium-low burner. Heat custard while continuously stirring with a wooden spoon. The technique for stirring involves slowly scraping the bottom of the pot with your spoon to prevent burning. I find the best spoon for doing this task is one with a square end. Continue to cook until mixture becomes thick and steamy. Once again, you don’t want to simmer or boil the milk, so the temperature you’re aiming for is around 180ºF.

Once custard has thickened, pour it into heat-safe serving bowls. Allow it to come to room temperature, and then allow it to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

While the custard is chilling, pit and halve cherries, and chop a few mint leaves for garnish.

Once chilled, serve the honey custard topped with fresh cherries, a drizzling of fresh honey, and a sprinkling of mint for garnish.