Custard Powder Recipe
Why buy Custard Powder when you can make it at home? Use my easy recipe and make a batch from scratch using just 5 ingredients.
You can use this homemade powder to make fruit custard, custard ice cream, or custard milkshake, or add it to sabudana kheer.
Just like any other North Indian household, custard made using an eggless powder mix was one of the most popular desserts in my house for parties and gatherings. My mom always made it for our birthday parties, festivals, and get-togethers.
In my humble opinion, there are three major reasons for its popularity.
- It is super quick to make. The custard comes together in under 10 minutes. After that, it’s just about chilling it and adding chopped fruits and jelly (optional)
- It is very economical. You can choose the fruits you want to add as per your budget.
- It tastes super delicious. Although it is a very easy and quick dessert to make, and is not made using expensive ingredients, it tastes fabulous.
Although the custard powder is readily available in the market these days, I like to make my own from scratch.
With so much news about adulteration and harmful chemicals in store-bought mixes, it’s only sensible. Additionally, it hardly takes any time, and you can be assured of what you are eating. So, try this homemade custard powder recipe and make custard using it.
About Custard Powder
Custard Powder is a powder mix which is used to make instant eggless custard. It is very easy to make and comes together in just 5 minutes using five simple ingredients.
Custard Powder is easily available in Indian grocery stores but making it at home is highly recommended. Homemade powder is made using best quality ingredients, it is free of preservatives and you can choose to not add color.
The warm, creamy instant custard made using homemade powder mix is super delicious and has a fresh taste compared to the store-bought one. It is also gluten-free.
My recipe yields approximately 1 and ½ cups of powder which is good to make custard for 10-12 people. You can easily half, double, or triple the recipe as per your requirement.
Store the powder in an airtight container. Keep the container in a cool and dry place. It will keep well for up to three months. To increase the shelf life, refrigerate it for up to 6 months.
Ingredients
You will need 5 ingredients to make this recipe – icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar), milk powder, corn starch (cornflour), vanilla powder, and yellow food color powder.
Icing sugar, also known as confectioner’s sugar, is used in this recipe instead of regular sugar powder. This is because it contains cornstarch, which helps thicken the custard. However, if you prefer to use regular sugar, I have included a hack in the post below.
Milk Powder makes the base of this powder mix. Use full-fat milk powder for the best texture.
Cornstarch (Cornflour) is a thickening agent that gives a creamy texture to the custard. You can replace it with water chestnut flour or arrowroot powder if you wish to.
If vanilla powder is unavailable, you can skip adding it to the recipe. Instead, add vanilla extract (also known as vanilla essence) when making the custard. You can also use vanilla sugar as a replacement for vanilla powder.
The same goes for yellow color powder. If you only have a liquid color, add it while making the custard. You can also choose to skip adding the color altogether. In this case, your custard will be white.
So, basically you can only use dry ingredients to make the custard powder. If they are wet, add them later while making the custard.
You can also replace the yellow food color with a pinch of turmeric. The color will be milder, but it is a good alternative if you are sensitive to food coloring.
How To Make Homemade Custard Powder
Add the following ingredients to a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- ¼ cup icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
- 1 cup milk powder
- ½ cup cornstarch (cornflour)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
- ⅛ teaspoon yellow food color powder
If the vanilla powder is not available, skip adding it. You can add some vanilla extract while making the custard instead.
Mix well using a wire whisk or a spoon.
Transfer the powder to a clean and dry glass jar and store it in a cool and dry place.
How To Make Custard Using The Powder
To make a warm and creamy custard, heat 1 cup of whole milk (full-fat milk) in a pan over medium-low heat.
Stir together 2 tablespoon custard powder and ¼ cup of chilled milk to make a lump-free mixture. If the mixture has lumps, pass it through a fine-mesh strainer.
Add the vanilla extract and the yellow food color to the bowl if you have not added these two while making the powder. If added, then skip this step.
Pour the custard powder mixture slowly into the pan with the milk and stir continuously until the custard thickens.
Remove the pan from heat and cover it with cling film to prevent a cream layer from forming on top.
Chill the custard for 3-4 hours and serve with chopped fresh fruits and jelly.
Pro Tips By Neha
Traditional custard is made using egg yolk, and because of this, it is light yellow in color. The custard powder sold commercially has a small amount of yellow coloring added to it, giving it the texture of classic custard. Now, when I eat custard, I somehow associate it with this color, and hence I add a bit of edible food color to my recipe. However, you can choose to skip adding it if you’re okay with eating a white-colored custard.
If you don’t have icing sugar, you can powder the regular sugar in a blender to make a fine powder. However, be sure to add 2 tablespoons of extra cornstarch to the recipe, as the commercial icing sugar already contains cornstarch.
When making custard using the powder, it is essential to dissolve the powder in a small amount of milk before adding it to the rest of the milk to prevent lumps in the custard.
If the ready custard still has lumps, then you can pass it through a mesh strainer. You will get creamy lump-free custard.
To make chocolate-flavored custard, add ½ cup of cocoa powder to the mix.
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Custard Powder Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
- 1 cup milk powder
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
- ⅛ teaspoon yellow food color powder
Instructions
Make Custard Powder
- Add icing sugar, milk powder, cornstarch, vanilla powder, and yellow food color powder to a medium-size mixing bowl.
- Mix well using a wire whisk or a spoon.
- If the vanilla powder is not available, skip adding it. You can add some vanilla extract while making the custard instead.
- Transfer the powder to a clean and dry glass jar and store it in a cool and dry place.
Make Custard Using The Powder
- To make a warm and creamy custard, heat 1 cup of whole milk in a pan over medium-low heat.
- Stir together 2 tablespoons of custard powder and ¼ cup of chilled milk to make a lump-free mixture. If there are lumps in the mixture, pass it through a fine-mesh strainer.
- Add the vanilla extract and the yellow food color to the bowl if you have not added these two while making the powder. If added, then skip this step.
- Pour the custard powder mixture slowly into the pan with the milk and stir continuously until the custard thickens.
- Remove the pan from heat and cover it using a cling wrap to avoid the formation of a cream layer on top.
- Chill the custard and serve with fresh fruits and jelly.
I’m thinking of making this but wondered what the purpose of the food coloring is. I was hoping to make cherry blossom custard and was looking forward to the color and flavor and wonder if the yellow would dilute the pink.
Hi Roni, the color is just for aesthetic. We all have grown up eting yellow custard so it relates. You can totally skip adding it.
Hello Neha,
I wonder about making this with Goat’s milk or coconut milk. Half of our family must avoid cow’s milk. Goat’s milk has a flavor that I consider more compatible with savory dishes. Goat’s milk is available in powdered form, but what form, of the many forms, of coconut milk would you recommend using for the pudding? Thank you for your efforts & contributions to wonderful, homemade recipes.
Hey Lynda, although I have never personally tried making a custard with Goat’s milk, but I think it’s perfectly doable. I suggest making a small batch first and see how it goes. Same goes coconut milk.
Nice, thanks for sharing!!!