My mother makes with using huntley and palmer crackers. and makes sure that she cuts the slices using the crackers as a guide.
YUM YUm
cap,
Jul 27, 8:48pm
Haven't tried the Denheath ones but a local radio station in Wellington had people vote for their favourite custard square and Pak n Save in Petone won so of course I just had to try them and they deserved the title.Very messy though as the custard is not super thick which is probably why I don't always like cold custard - hate that super yellow stuff with a texture like rubber.
margyr,
Jul 29, 3:19am
so good to read all the stuff you are making now steamylee.
naki45,
Jul 29, 6:01pm
I used to use the H & P cream crackers instead of pastry too. Heaps easier and just as nice, haven't made them for years though.
naki45,
Jul 29, 6:02pm
Sure are YUM YUM lol Might have to make some over the weekend now.
eastie3,
Jul 29, 11:29pm
This is from food blog I follow:
The Culinary Explorations of Mrs Cake
Sunday, July 18, 2010The Ultimate Custard Square Hunt - Petone Pak'n'Save, Wellington A friend noticed a while back that Petone Pak'n'Save, where she does her weekly shopping, has an award for their custard squares. She did tell me about it but we're not often out that way and it hadn't quite made it high enough on my priority list to make a proper pilgrimmage! ;-) Anyway, today she dropped this off to me:
Nutritional information on a custard square - hmm, I'm not sure that's right! I don't think I want to know! Never mind, it's too small to read easily anyway. $1.98 is pretty cheap - it's pretty hard to find a custard square under $2 in this day and age! But will it live up to the hype!
It has chocolate icing - my friend did warn me of this when she handed the booty over - but perhaps it's good enough to transcend an inferior icing type. The filling looks very fluffy - reminiscent of the delicious Denheath ones, perhaps!
Well, I'm sad to say I don't think I would be proffering any awards to this morsel. The pastry was good - crisp, not soggy or dry - but the filling was incredibly sickly and tasted more of cream than custard. For perhaps the first time ever I was unable to finish a custard square - and it wasn't overly large. It was just too fatty and sickly and I couldn't do it. For anyone with any degree of uncertainty, I have what is usually an insatiable sweet tooth, and would probably astonish and disgust most of my readers with just how much sugar I can pack away if I put my mind to it - so it was not due to a low tolerance! Funnily enough, the chocolate icing was actually the nicest chocolate icing I've ever had on a custard square and helped mitigate the overwhelming sweetness to a small degree - but that wasn't enough to redeem it. Sorry, Pak'n'Save - I guess the judges of whatever competition you won liked it but I really didn't! I give it 4/10. (but a big thank you to my lovely friend for thinking of me and making the effort to drop it off on her way home - even if it wasn't the best it did need to be reviewed - no custard square shall escape my scrutiny!)
rarogirl1,
Jul 30, 1:56am
Try this very easy 2 sheets flaky pastry pierce all over with fork as you don't want it to puff up.Cook in oven. Mix 500ml cream with 1 packet vanilla instant pudding.When pastry cooled spread vanilla mixture on one sheet pack it up place other sheet on top.Dust icing sugar over the top sheet.You can cut into squares but I find it easier to cut into large fingers. You will be surprised how yummy and easy this is.
ghce,
Jul 30, 9:31pm
I've made custard squares for years using a recipe from a cafe owner.The secret to flat puff pastry (sounds strange) is to cook the pastry sheets, take them from the oven and then just stack the cooked pastry still on the trays on top of one another and finish with an emtpy tray.Saves a lot of mucking around rolling etc to get them flat.
Use any stiff custard recipe provided here.
I love them with passionfruit icing.
An electric bread knife makes cutting through the pastry and custard a breeze.
griffo4,
Jul 31, 1:40am
cooks l keep my denheath ones in the freezer or else l would eat them all in one go they are just soo nice and l haven't found anything that has come close but l might try some of these recipes but l like the light fluffy custard like denheath they send me emails with their specials and l sit and drool at them,lol
allurs,
Jul 31, 5:08am
I've never in my life made this before but I really wanna make it for my ma! But some help would be great!
1 - what kind of dish/tray do you cook the pastry on! 2 - do you leave the pasty in the dish/tray before you add the custard! or do you cook the pastry on a tray and then transfur the pastry into a dish that hasa side when its cold and then add the filing etc! 3 - once you've added the custard, how long do you leave it to set before you cut it!!
darlingmole,
Jul 31, 5:23am
good questions allurs~!I was about to ask pretty much the same questions .
darlingmole,
Jul 31, 5:25am
no custard square shall escape my scrutiny!)
Quote eastie3 (30 )4:29 pm, Fri 30 Jul #25
you CRACK me up eastie!we need more people like you to police the good, the bad and the ugly in cooking.Have a cool weekend x
margyr,
Jul 31, 1:03pm
when cooking the sheets of flakey pastry i just cook them on an oven tray, if you have a baking tray that they fit into with sides then when you want to add the custard put the bottom one in there, although as the custard is thicker than normal it usually starts to set as soon as you start pouring it on the pastry so I dont put mine into another dish. After you have iced it I trim about 1/2 to 1 inch off from around the sides and hey presto yummy custard squares.
elliehen,
Aug 3, 7:18am
For that very reason, your own home-made will always be more trustworthy than the shop!
A few years ago Consumers' Institute did a test of custard squares and chicken rolls throughout the country - faecal coliforms were rife.
cap,
Aug 3, 4:37pm
I still stick with the Pak n Save ones.I actually tried a Denheath one yesterday and found it quite different to what I expect from a custard square.I did like the coconut on the top but found the filling rather odd - not horrible just odd.
pickles7,
Aug 3, 5:14pm
Pak n save are putting a little more mock cream in there custard than the should. When you bite down the filling is out the sides and down your suit. NASTY. was the coconut rancid.cap. Custard squares need to be kept chilled, it is a milk product and will go off. How long dose it take to sour a cup of milk on your bench,!.
rosathemad,
Oct 28, 2:54am
My old flattie calls them salmonella squares! ;-) I love them though, I'm Mrs Cake and it seems my custard square obsession has beaten me to this thread!
The Denheath ones definitely are different - but I love them too. :-) I made some custard squares the other day using a recipe from the Foodlovers forum, using instant pudding for the custard - I was very dubious but they were actually really good and super easy.
Could I use the commercial custad! How would I thicken it enough!
245sam,
Nov 15, 5:22pm
toenails, I have a recipe (personally untried) of Robyn Martin's in one of her Quick n Easy books that uses commercially prepared custard for custard squares - the filling is 4 tsp gelatin, 2 tbsp water, 1 x 1 litre carton prepared custard.
Hope that helps.:-))
Edited to add that in another of Robyn's recipes she uses the following quantities for the filling for custard squares:3 tbsp gelatine, 2 tbsp water, 1 litre prepared custard. Obviously there is a considerable difference in the gelatine quantites (4 tsp v. 9 tsp) so one (the second) filling would be a firmer one.I have never used gelatine (or commercial custard) for custard squares so I can't advise re which of the above options would be best.:-))
bev00,
Nov 16, 4:52am
made with filo pastry . yum
juliewn,
Nov 16, 8:33am
Hi Shirley and Bev :-) Hope all is well for you both.
gardie,
Nov 16, 10:59am
I wondered if anyone would post this recipe as I was reading down.I made this for years and ate it for years.I don't make it any more lol.It is the easiest nicest 'custard' square ever.I used to put chocolate icing on mine though.
marree,
Nov 16, 7:26pm
Pam.delilah - could you please advise metric measurements for the milk & butter for this recipe.(Not good at pastry, so this hopefully won't fail!) Thanks
mike844,
Nov 16, 7:29pm
dont need pastry use huntley & palmers cream crakers for the base & top easy as!
kinna54,
Nov 16, 11:41pm
likewise! That used to be my favourite treat in the days I could afford to frequent cafe's.beautiful! I have even iced them with a passonfruit icing when I have made them. ooh I'm drooling. guess what will go on the baking list this week! if possible. (god of hands please send me some usage!)
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.