Creamy, flavorful, and Quick, Fruit Custard is an Indian dessert that is super easy to make and needs no fancy ingredients. Make it for special occasions, parties, or just like that.
Here are some more Indian dessert recipes, that you can serve after your weekend brunch – Fruit Cream, Apple Cinnamon Cake, Strawberry Cobbler, Hot Spiced Fruit Bake, Mango Chia Pudding, and Mango Mousse Cake.
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What is Fruit Custard?
Slightly sweet, delicious, and loaded with the goodness of fruits, Fruit Custard is something you can make for your everyday desserts. If you like something creamy and simple and want that bite from fresh exotic fruits, then this Indian Fruit Salad with Custard Sauce is your dish.
Custard is traditionally made using egg yolks, cream, and milk but here we are making an eggless version of it using the custard powder.
I love this dessert mainly because you can load it with as many fruits as you want. Also, if you are making this dessert, opt for seasonal fruits.
You can make the custard powder at home or use the store-bought one. If you have time on your hands, do use the homemade one, as it tastes the best. I make it at home and store it so that it is always handy whenever I want to make this yummy dessert.
The actual joy of eating this chilled dessert is after a Summer lunch when your tummy is full of all the delicious food and you just need a light dessert to end the perfect meal.
This Indian Custard Recipe is:
- Yummy
- Light
- Customizable
- Easy to make
- Loaded with fruits
- Apt for a Summer dessert
Ingredients
Milk – Always use full-fat milk to make this delicious dessert. It gives it a creamy texture, that makes it even yummier.
Custard Powder – I always make Custard Powder at home and store it for later use. But if you are short on time, you can even use the store-bought ones. If going for a store-bought one, try and get Brown and Polson. I have tried many different brands and found this one the best.
Sugar – Sugar can be adjusted according to your taste and preference. I like mine to be less sweet, but you can always increase the amount of sugar. You can also try using jaggery in place of sugar. It sometimes curdles the milk though so be very careful. Add it only once the milk is warm.
Fruits – You can add any fruits in this custard, according to the season. I like to add seasonal fruits, as it tastes the best. I have used Apple, Mango, Pomegranate, Strawberry, Banana, Grapes, Orange, and Kiwi. You can also try custard apple, berries, chikoo, cantaloupe, papaya, etc.
You can also add jelly, tutti frutti, coconut flakes, chocolate chip etc. To add more flavor you can add in cardamom powder, rose syrup, saffron, etc too.
How to make Fruit Custard?
Take ½ cup warm milk in a bowl and add custard powder in it.
Mix well to make a lump free mixture.
Heat the remaining milk in a pan. Add sugar and cook until it dissolves.
Add custard mixture slowly and keep whisking throughout. Cook on medium heat until the mixture thickens.
Keep stirring continuously.
Remove the pan from the heat.
Cover the pan with a cling wrap to avoid the formation of cream layer on top. Cool the custard completely. Chill it for 3-4 hours.
When ready to serve, add chopped fresh fruits and mix well.
Serve chilled.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make it, you just need 3 ingredients – 1 cup milk powder, 2 tablespoon sugar, and ½ cup cornflour.
Just add all the three ingredients into a blender and make a powder out of it. Store the powder in an airtight container.
You can use vanilla beans or vanilla extract to flavor it.
To give it a slight yellow hint, add in a little powdered yellow food coloring, but this is completely optional.
If you don’t have custard powder, don’t worry! You can still make a custard. You will need:
2 eggs
3 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
5 tablespoons sugar
Instructions:
Firstly, add in ¾ of the milk with eggs and whisk properly till you get a creamy texture. Keep it aside.
Add in the remaining milk in the cornstarch, whisk it well, and see that there are no lumps.
Now add in the cornstarch mixture into the egg mixture and mix well. Add in vanilla extract, sugar, and mix well.
Now heat a pan and add this mixture into it. Stir continuously and cook the mixture till it is creamy. Don’t make it too thick, as it will get thicker once it cools down.
Custard Powder has cornflour in it as an ingredient, which helps in the thickening of the custard. If you think your Custard is too runny, add in more custard powder while making the same. Keep in mind that it will thicken after cooling.
Well, if you find your Custard too thick, you can add in some cold milk and thin it out.
It is often seen that milk and fruits when served together, can be heavy on the stomach and might disturb the same. To avoid it, you can make it with almond milk for your kids.
Variations
Shahi Fruit Custard – In this you can flavor your custard with cardamom powder, saffron, and rose syrup. It adds a rich and shahi flavor to it. Then top it off with fruits and dry fruits.
Chocolate – You can make a chocolate custard, by flavoring it with cocoa powder. You can also add choco chips.
Jelly – To make this version, make some jelly and add it at the bottom of the serving bowl and top it with fruit custard. I always use REX brand jelly. You can use different flavors of jelly.
Without Fruits – Just prepare custard the same way, instead of adding fruits, you can add dry fruits and nuts. You can also avoid adding sugar and sweeten it using dates.
With Sponge Cake – Add some pieces of sponge cake at the bottom of the serving bowl and then pour the custard on top. While you eat it, the soft crumbly cake tastes delicious with the creamy custard and crunch of fruits.
Custard Tart – You can also fill it in a tart for a delicious dessert.
With Condensed milk – You can reduce the quantity of milk and add condensed milk to get a creamier texture.
Substitute ½ cup milk with an equivalent amount of condensed milk. Just make sure to reduce the amount of sugar, as the condensed milk is already sweet.
Vegan – To make it vegan, use almond milk instead of dairy milk. Almond Milk also adds a great taste to this custard, but the texture and taste will differ a bit.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve Fruit Custard as a dessert after your weekend Summer meals or even during festivals and special occasions.
You can also make it for your Pot Luck Parties.
Make sure to chill it for a few hours before serving. Also keep in mind that it will thicken once chilled.
Wash, cut and chill the fruits also.
Storage Suggestions
This stays good in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days. Add the fruits only when you are ready to serve and only in the portion that you are serving.
Pro Tips By Neha
You can also add jaggery instead of sugar in Fruit Custard. Make sure you add jaggery once the custard has become thick and warm, otherwise the milk will curdle.
I also like to make this custard with almond milk sometimes, as it delivers a nice rich taste.
Use seasonal fruits for the best taste, as they are freshly available in the market.
Prepare the custard powder beforehand, when you have time on your hand, and store so that it comes in handy when you want to make this dessert.
Stick to the measurements I have given. If they are not followed correctly, the custard can turn out too thick or too thin.
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Recipe Card
Fruit Custard Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 ml Full Fat Milk
- 3 tablespoon Custard Powder
- ¼ cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Apple (chopped)
- ¼ cup Mango (peeled and cubed)
- ¼ cup Pomegrante
- ¼ cup Strawberry (chopped)
- 1 Banana (peeled and cubed)
- ¼ cup Grapes (sliced into half)
- ¼ cup Orange (peeled and sliced)
- ¼ cup Kiwi (peeled and sliced)
Instructions
- Take ½ cup milk in a bowl and add custard powder in it.
- Mix well to make a lump free mixture.
- Heat the remaining milk in a pan
- Add sugar and cook until it dissolves.
- Add custard mixture slowly and keep whisking throughout. Cook on medium heat until the mixture thickens.
- Keep stirring continuously.
- Remove the pan from the heat.
- Cover the pan with a cling wrap to avoid the formation of cream layer on top.
- Cool the custard completely.
- Chill it for 3-4 hours.
- When ready to serve, add chopped fresh fruits in the custard and mix well.
- Serve chilled.
