Custard Slices

Welcome back to our weekly Dish of the Week series. There are so many recipes we want to share with you after our 3-week camping holiday (especially that Christmas meal), but in today’s post we are going to show you how to make one of my all-time favourites – custard slices!

It’s actually a birthday treat that my mother used to bake for me on special birthdays. The first time was when I turned 13 and I don’t remember ever eating anything so good! On my 21st birthday, my mum baked it again and it was easily the most popular dessert on the table. When I celebrated my birthday last week (my 13th and 21st birthdays now long forgotten), I asked my mum to help me bake custard slices again. And it is, after all these years, still one of my favourites!

Put it on the table:

It’s actually very easy to make and if you like custard, this will soon become one of your favourites too!

Ingredients for Custard Slices

1 packet (200g) Cream Crackers

1 liter full cream milk

250ml sugar

120ml butter/margarine

120ml all-purpose flour

100ml corn flour

10ml custard powder

2ml salt

100ml cold water

3 eggs, separated

5ml vanilla essence

Heat the milk in a large saucepan until boiling. Add the sugar and butter and stir until melted, then remove from the heat.

Heat the milk

Add sugar and butter and stir until melted

Mix the cake flour, corn flour, custard powder, salt and cold water thoroughly in a mixing bowl.

Mix cake flour, corn flour, custard powder, salt and water

Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the flour mixture and beat well. Gradually whisk a little of the milk mixture into the custard mixture.

Separate the eggs and add yolks to flour mixture

Whisk a little of the milk mixture into the custard mixture

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk. Stir constantly over low heat and cook for about 5 minutes until thick. Remove from the stove and stir in the vanilla essence.

Cook the mixture until thick

Stir in the vanilla essence

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the custard mixture with a metal spoon.

Beat the egg whites

Fold egg whites into custard mixture

Put a layer of cream crackers in the bottom of the bowl, spoon the custard mixture on top and put another layer of cream crackers on top. Let the custard slices cool down.

Tip: Pack the crackers on top in such a way that their center lines lie in the same direction.

Put cream crackers in the bowl, then custard mixture and end with another layer of cream crackers

TOP LAYER:

While you wait for the custard slices to cool down, get the ingredients ready for the top layer.

Ingredients for top layer

500ml icing sugar (sifted)

40ml hot water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Sift the icing sugar and mix with the water and lemon juice to a smooth paste. Spoon it onto the custard slices.

Mix water and lemon juice with sifted icing sugar

Spoon icing sugar onto custard slices

Place the custard slices in the refrigerator and chill for a few hours. Slice and serve.

Yummy custard slices

Maybe (like me) you don’t have to wait 32 years for another birthday before making custard slices again … it’s way too good to wait that long!