Baked Blueberry Custard with Lemon Syrup

Remember last post when I talked about holding on to my egg yolks? Well, I did it for the thick delicious treat that is custard. I have always loved custard, ever since I can remember. Sometimes that means a few weeks, but today my memory is reaching all the way back to my childhood. When I was a little girl my favorite dessert in the world was galaktoboureko, a greek dessert that consists of custard tucked neatly between buttered filo dough sheets, baked in the oven and doused with syrup. I didn't want to have to deal with the difficulties that filo dough presents, so I made a custard similar to galaktoboureko but put them in small corningware dishes. Much easier.

The custard came out great, although the blueberries I used tasted a little funny. I think it was because they weren't organic, for some reason I can't taste the difference between most organic and non-organic produce, except for berries. And especially blackberries, they always taste like soap if they're not organic for some reason. I will make a mental note buy organic berries in the future.

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Ingredients:

Syrup

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Water

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

Custard

6 Egg Yolks

2 Cups Milk

1/2 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Semolina

1/4 Cup Fresh Blueberries
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon Grated Lemon Rind

First make the syrup. Bring the sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil over medium high heat. Allow to boil for 7 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool. 

Now you can start making the custard. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm the milk in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add the semolina, sugar, salt, and butter and mix well. Continue to warm the mixture, stirring constantly, until it is very hot but not boiling. Then lower the heat.

Place the egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl and whisk until thoroughly blended. Slowly ladle some of the milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking all the while. Continue adding the milk to the egg yolks in this gradual manner until half of the milk mixture has been blended into the egg yolk mixture. 

Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the milk mixture and whisk well. Allow the custard to continue cooking and thicken for 3 minutes over low heat, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in the nutmeg, vanilla extract, and grated lemon rind.

Pour the custard into (6) 7 ounce oven-safe ramekins. Put the ramekins on a baking sheet, so you don't have to keep ducking into the oven putting in and taking out the ramekins one at a time. Place in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the tops of the custards are a nice golden brown. 

Remove from the oven and gently pierce the surface of the custards in 4 or 5 places with a fork. Arrange the blueberries on top of the custards in a centered circle, then pour 2 tablespoons of the syrup over each ramekin. Allow them to rest and absorb the syrup for 30 minutes. Serve immediately, and keep any leftovers refrigerated.