What’s happened to custard?

Been using Birds Custard powder for many years. Everyone in the family enjoys it. I do add a teaspoon of vanilla essence to the mixture. On special occasions I make confectioners custard for some puddings.

Food of the gods imo - I could live on custard!

I can't taste a difference.

make your own; beaten eggs and milk, bit of sugar, vanilla if you like it. Easy, cheap, nutritious. Slice in a banana and relive the 1960's.

I do custard in a saucepan standing inside another ; the bottom one has simmering water in it.

I regularly make custard using Birds powder for my husband as he loves it on a pud. When my diabetic Dad used to stay I stopped using sugar (think I put artificial sweetener in instead) and hubby got used to it but these days I don’t use any sweetener as he says he finds it fine as the pudding is always sweet anyway.

I think it does taste strongly of vanilla but DH loves it. I do make it with lovely farm fresh milk. I prefer a proper custard made with eggs.

If you only want a small amount of custard I recommend the small pots of Ambrosia. They have a long date which is very useful and they taste good. I sometimes use it to make small individual trifles with tinned fruit and trifle sponges or sponge fingers. A good stock cupboard dessert!

I buy little pots of custard to have on stewed apple/rhubarb etc.
I still like it.

The title of this thread makes me happy to be on Gransnet.

Years ago when I was feeding three children on a low wage, I used to make "sunflower pudding."
A pint of custard shared between three bowls, one very thinly sliced banana arranged round the edges of the three bowls for the petals and a few chocolate sprinkles in the middle for the seeds.

I still like custard. I use the Tesco powder and organic semi-skimmed milk, no added sugar.
Sometimes I add cocoa to the powder to make a chocolate custard.
Nowadays I can afford a whole banana to myself! 😅

I liked our school custard back in the 60s and 70s and it was rather pale and thin but oddly I enjoyed it because of the puddings that went with it, but I still prefer at home to use Birds powder for puds especially 🍌 & custard.
I discovered that “school custard” was/is made using dried milk and it works if you’re short of milk.
I noticed a few years back that the instructions for Birds had altered slightly and it is to my perception a bit more almandy rather than vanillary.
I don’t think the powdered versions or the thick canned stuff is in the same league personally but won’t turn my nose if it is offered.

If we want custard, it’s good old Ambrosia. Now and then I do make a ‘proper’ custard, though, for an apple sponge pudding - made with trifle sponges.

My mother would only use Brown and Polson custard powder.
She maintained that Birds was too 'vanilla-ry'.

I grew up with Bird's Custard and tinned fruit for dessert! I do have a container, but only used it for a recipe (Nanaimo bars), and haven't ever actually made custard.

Now I am craving tinned plums with custard.

I do my Birds Custard in the microwave , love it I leave out the sugar , no one notices it during the rhubarb season

I either use Bird's or the supermarket's own custard powder and am happy with the taste. I make custard really thick so that the spoon almost stands up in it. I'm not keen on thin runny custard - you can't pour mine!

Try adding a tablespoon of double cream, stirred in just before serving. Works a treat!

A pint of Bird’s custard soon disappears when the GC are here. My OH likes custard but I didn’t so it’s a treat.

Since switching from gas to an induction hob I have found it much harder to thicken it without it catching on the bottom; have to do much more stirring these days!

I sometimes use Bird’s custard and it tastes the same to me. I actually prefer Taste the Difference custard in a tub from Sainsbury’s! Delicious.

I use Tesco readymade custard, tastes fine to me.

I still use Bird’s Custard Powder and it still tastes good to me, and everyone else. Maybe it’s the milk you use now. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was recently reacquainted with it, when a step granddaughter invited us to Sunday lunch, her first. I think she'd underestimated how many she was catering for, so her roast and accompanying vegetables which was nice was nevertheless somewhat on the meagre side when divided up. Many of us were delighted, when a fairly substantial warm banana cake was produced and her sister pulled a tin of Birds out of a cupboard and turned its contents into a very acceptable custard It tasted alright to me, but we were still hungry. I have made proper custard before now with umpteen egg yolks, vanilla pod etc. but frankly this was good enough and far less faffing required.

I buy it tinned and it seems okay. Not like childhood, but not much is.

OH loves it, I hate it. We compromise by buying it ready made or just occasionally I make the proper stuff with egg yolks and proper vanilla pods. Now I do like that otherwise I'd rather eat a piece of fresh fruit.

I have just bought instant custard - ‘just add water’ it says 😫