Mama’s Custard Sauce
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This homemade custard sauce is creamy, velvety, and tastes so good poured over your favorite dessert.
In my household, it isn’t Thanksgiving or Christmas without a thick slice of Aunt Sue’s famous pound cake drizzled with this delicious custard sauce. The combination of the sweet custard and the cake is absolutely sublime and I just can’t imagine a holiday without it.
Fortunately, I bet you have the six ingredients needed to make this custard sauce sitting in your kitchen right now: milk, salt, sugar, flour, eggs, and vanilla. Now, it’s pretty quick and easy to make, you just have to be patient. But believe me, this creamy and velvety custard is totally worth it!
While I adore serving this with my Aunt Sue’s pound cake, this homemade custard sauce can accompany a host of desserts, whether that’s chocolate cake, apple crumble, or pumpkin pie. You can also serve your vanilla custard sauce with a bowl of fresh fruit or , poached pears, or even pancakes. Basically, enjoy it when you’d usually use or and you have a winning dessert. Similar to this is definitely a versatile sauce that I know you’ll make again and again!
Recipe Ingredients
- Milk
- Salt
- Sugar
- Flour
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
Place flour, sugar, and salt into a medium saucepan and whisk together to blend.
Add in milk and whisk well.
Place over medium heat, stirring constantly.
BUT if you hurry, you can do this next step before that heats up…
Okay, so while that is heating up, crack your eggs real quick and pour off the whites so you are left with the yolks (the orange part).
How to separate your eggs
I just crack my eggs and pour the yolk into one half and tilt it gently until the white falls off into a cup or bowl below. They actually sell gadgets that separate whites from eggs but this way works perfectly for me. You can also just hold out your hand, palm side up, and spread your fingers apart slightly and pour your egg on top of them. The whites will fall through your fingers and you’ll be left with the egg yolk.
However you do it, get you some egg yolks and put them in a cup or bowl.
Beat them a bit.
Now go back to your custard sauce and stir, stir, stir, until it gets hot.
Take out a small bit (about 1/2 a cup) and pour it into your eggs while stirring them vigorously to incorporate the hot milk mixture without letting it cook up the eggs.
Now pour this egg and back into the saucepan while stirring rapidly.
Cook a few more minutes until the .
Stir in the vanilla extract.
Oh, have mercy!
After straining or if you’re not straining, pour this into a gravy boat and cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, pushing down a little so that it touches the surface to prevent a film from being formed.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, pour over individual pieces of pound cake.
You can also serve this warm if you like, it doesn’t have to be cold. We have always made it ahead of time so we don’t have to do it last minute.
I hope you get to add this wonderful old-fashioned vanilla custard sauce to your holiday fixings!
Storage
Custard leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- This recipe calls for all-purpose flour but honestly, you can use self-rising if that is what you have on hand. I’d just cut the salt in half if you do. I generally use whatever I grab first.
- Now, mine is smooth and creamy with no lumps but this may not always be the case depending on several factors. So Mama told me to make sure you know that she sometimes pours hers through a strainer when she is done with it to get out any lumps that might have formed. Feel free to do that and no one will know any different.
- If a film does form on your custard, just stir it down into there – it will still taste good.
- You can easily flavor your custard with a tablespoon or two of chocolate chips, coconut, chopped nuts, or dried fruit. You could also add a teaspoon of your favorite spices, like cinnamon or nutmeg.
- For those who like lemon, stir in the juice of 3 lemons and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest before refrigerating for a refreshing lemon-flavored custard.
- On the other hand, chocolate fans will love the addition of 1/2 cup of chocolate hazelnut spread.
- I don’t recommend using non-dairy milk in this recipe, as it doesn’t have the same fat content as whole milk, so it won’t have the desired consistency.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make my custard in advance?
Yes, this vanilla custard sauce will last up to 5 days in the fridge, so you can definitely make it ahead of time. Serve cold or warm it in the microwave.
Here are more delicious cakes to bake:
Pumpkin Praline Cake With Cream Cheese Icing
Super Easy King Cake Recipe (WOW GOOD!)
Easy Birthday Cake Recipe From Scratch
Yellow Cake with Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Icing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups cups milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan. Whisk in the milk and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until just hot.1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 2 1/2 cups cups milk
- In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until smooth. Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture to the beaten eggs and stir vigorously.3 egg yolks
- Pour the milk and egg mixture back into the saucepot and cook, stirring constantly over medium heat, until the custard begins to thicken.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract. Pour the custard through a strainer (if you like) and into a small pitcher or gravy boat. Cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Nutrition
“Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.”
~Lois McMaster Bujold
Submitted by Jenny. Submit your motivational, encouraging, or inspirational quote by clicking here.
Oh Christy….tytytytyty for this recipe. I live in the UK and they use custard on most EVERYTHING!!! However, it’s either from a powder or a tin. The other week we were having a social at church and I didn’t have either custard supplements in my pantry, so I called my mother-in-law thinking to myself, oh she makes cakes all the time, of course she’ll have a recipe for homemade custard. Ummm no lol – she started telling me about slowly adding milk and whisking frequently to avoid the lumps, and I was like…wait a minute…we are talking about making this from scratch right? She said – “oh no dear…you need the custard powder”…sighhh needless to say I had none and so was unable to make any….until now!!!!!! I am going to try this out tomorrow and if successful, oh my gosh can you imagine?? I’ll be able to say (and probably one of the only people in Britain) that I make homemade custard!!!! Wooohooo talk about a great way to end a busy Friday!!! 🙂 thanks hun – as always, you are the best!!!!
My mother made a sauce she called ‘hard sauce’ but she didn’t write it down and I haven’t been able to find a recipe for it. It was clear,made with water,sugar and vinegar and maybe some cornstarch and egg. She spooned it over cake if the cake was a little stale. We liked it I may try dong something with this recipe to see if I can duplicate the hard sauce. Thanks!
I think this sauce sounds divine!
I have got to try to get the cookbook with your Aunt Sue’s pound cake recipe.
I always have trouble with my pound cakes having a sad streak in them. I wonder what I am doing wrong? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Yours looked so tall and beautiful. Thank you!
Whoa, how about a dash of freshly grated nutmeg in that sauce? Can’t wait to make this!
I hope you enjoy it Sharon!!
Yummy….I can think of lots of things to use this on
Boy I’m looking forward to the day you post the pound cake recipe !
If you happen to have a copy of my first book the cake recipe is in there.
Christy,
Just so you know, I think of you every time that I am out grocery shopping! I remember some time ago when you were talking about generic canned goods you said “the store brand peas don’t know that they’re generic!” (or something along those lines :)). So funny and so true.
I wish there was internet and websites championing the goodness of generics back when I was younger. My sister and I would give my mother grief over having to buy generics. Mom could’ve used someone like you on her side telling her it was all going to be ok, and that those girls would get over it! haha~ I’ve grown up and I promise you I am much more sensible now 🙂
Thank you so much for thinking of me Jennifer!!
Goodness I’m not against using generic brands. The sophisticated pallet remark because people use “real” vanilla and butter was simply rude. Kay that is exactly my point about the snide remark about our sophisticated pallets because some people only use the real stuff.
Again, I apologize for offending you a second time and state again that such was not my intent. I just realized you put “gift” in quotations as if to imply it wasn’t, which did not offend me, even though it was sent to me by McCormick’s since I am a food blogger. Having my word brought into question like that could be easily seen as an offense, but I’m a big believer in James 1:19. Also, I realize that I am not equipped to know what you meant or what was in your heart or tone when you wrote that so I decided it was best to give the benefit of the doubt – as I hope you will now decide to do with me as we bring this conversation to a close.
Either way, the most wonderful time of the year is upon us and I wish you a joyous holiday season filled with recognition of all the bountiful blessings around you.
Life is too short not to look for the good in things 🙂
Gratefully,
Christy