The Fresh Loaf

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Skolebrød Custard Problems

the dark lord's picture
the dark lord

Skolebrød Custard Problems

Hi

 

I'm new here and not a massively experienced baker, particularly of bread.

 

Today was a  miserable rainy day so I decided to have a go at making Norwegian Skolebrød. But i have had some difficulty with the Custard filling.

 

The first issue is the well that I made was too small and on some of the buns the bun has ejected the custard. That is perhaps more easily cured by making larger wells.

 

The second issue that I am a bit more stuck with is that the custard has scrambled. I am not sure how i can avoid this as my understanding is that the custard will always scramble when exposed to high head and certainly at the 180ºC the bread bake demands. On the flip side these buns exist with UN-scambled filling so it is doable.

Any tips?

Perhaps the larger well & larger quantity of custard will not heat as much?
Custard was too sweet and thin for my liking so next time ill hold back on the sugar and add some cornflour.

 

The recipe i used is here...http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/norwegian_custard_buns_92546

drogon's picture
drogon

It has cornflour (cornstarch) added into it. (did you forget? It's in the recipe) This will stop it splitting (turning into scrambled egg!) when baked. However you need to cook it through - So whisk the eggs, sugar and cornflour, add the boiling milk, & vanilla mix, whisk, then strain back into the the pan and put back on the heat - ignore their instructions about covering the back of a spoon but bring it to the boil, stirring all the time. The cornflour will stop it splitting and when it boils the cornflour will cook through and thicken and stabilise the custard. Take it off the heat and keep stirring until there is no more heat in the bottom of the pan, (else it will burn), then let it cool. Once it's cold, you can whisk it which will loosen it off so you can then pipe it into the dough.

I'd make the custard the night before and leave it in the fridge to set. (cover with clingfilm touching the surface to stop a skin forming) Then you can make up the dough, let it prove and when its almost fully proved you can whisk up the custard and use a piping bag to put it on the dough. Push your thumb right through the dough balls - I'd go right to the bottom, then fill, glaze and bake as quickly as possible.

And it sounds like something I really want to make myself now! My wife loves cardamom, so ....

-Gordon

the dark lord's picture
the dark lord

Cheers Gordon;

Doh - yes i forgot the Cornflour it appears i wasnt reading too well, I was being mithered by some relatives who turned up on spec whilst i was making the custard. So that's my excuse. I was afraid to get the custard too hot and scramble it in the pan, I certainly didn't want to get it anywhere near boiling... Ive never made crem-pat before and was treating it more like my other favorite Holandaise Sauce. I didnt think that the cornflour would stop the egg splitting/scrambling. But I'll give it a go.

I did make the filing at the same time (first) but it was plenty "fridge" cold by the time it was added. The back of a spoon thing is very vague, but yea it seemed to thin.

When you say you'd push down into the buns do you mean you'd effectively make a ring?

That said I have some now have some awesome iced buns with a hint of vanilla. That is to say I'm very pleased with the dough, very glad I halved the cardamom content too.

 

Once I have crempat mastered i think I'll be making Vanilla Slices :-)

drogon's picture
drogon

A good creme. pat. is a handy thing to have in your recipe book, so google about and pick/try some recipes until you find one that works for you. I always use a vanilla pod in mine. Usually I divide the sugar in half and one half goes in with the eggs and cornflour, the other half in the milk and vanilla...

The back of spoon thing is classic custard (creme anglaise) for pouring over puddings, or used as a custard base for ice cream. You really don't want to get that too hot as it will turn into scrambled egg.

For the buns - I wasn't suggesting rings, but just push a thumb into it and wiggle it round to enlarge the hole - I make Bertinets "bread shots" which are made like that - although they're possibly a bit smaller.

As for vanilla slices... Might as well go for mille feuille ,,,

 

Maybe a bit smaller than those though :-)

(Done on a little introduction to patisserie course I ran for a client a few weeks back)

-Gordon

dakkar's picture
dakkar

I want to join your class!

These are some awesome looking sweets!  

Would you have any recommendations for a mille-feuilles recipee?

That's something I've never tried.