This final Thailand post has taken me a while to put together, I’d wanted to put it up a month ago but with all the photos to go through and the house hunting process in full swing, this post kept falling by the wayside. *But*, a week ago Jeremy and I signed the closing papers on our new home, and we’re now officially first-time homeowners! I can’t tell you how happy I am to be moving back to Oregon, where the landscape is green, the skies are gray, and my parents’ cooking is only a 45-minute drive away. I’ve been wanting this for a long, long time, and now that it’s finally happening, I find myself filled with a huge sense of both joy and relief. The move has been stressful and time consuming, of course, but in the end we’ll have a place to call our own. A place where we can truly go home to roost. I. can’t. wait.
Coconut Milk Custard
Ingredients
COCONUT MILK CUSTARD
- 4 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/3 cup palm sugar
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 cups coconut milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons whipped cream optional garnish
PALM SUGAR SYRUP
- 3/4 cup palm sugar
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
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To prepare the custard, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the ingredients until completely smooth and well-blended. Pour into several small ramekins (about 3-4 inch in diameter) and place them on a lipped baking sheet. Pour water into the baking sheet around the ramekins so that the ramekins are resting in about 1 inch of water. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until just set. Remove from oven and allow to cool while you prepare the palm sugar syrup.
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To prepare the syrup, bring the ingredients to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before chilling in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Drizzle the coconut custards with the syrup, top with a dollop of whipped cream, and serve immediately.
After we left, I kept longing to go back, and I still do. It’s such a relaxing place, and going back through all the photos in the middle of a horrifically stressful out-of-state move makes me miss that friendliness and tranquility even more so. I know we will eventually get back to Thailand, and until then I figured out a recipe for the coconut custard that will hold us over. I bought an ebelskiver pan and tried making it in there, but they stuck to much to the sides of the pan and ended up falling apart when I tried to take them out. So, I went the western route and baked them in ramekins in the oven in a lipped baking sheet lined with water to keep the custard from cracking. The result was my favorite custard, everrrrrrr. It was sweet, salty, creamy, smooth, and rich. (But not too rich where you feel kind of weird after eating, more like where you give a deep sigh afterwards and say “Good God, that was good.” Or at least I say that.) So I will leave you with this recipe, and many, many photos of one of the most breathtaking countries in the world. I love you, Thailand!!! You will always have a special place in my heart, right next to Pad Thai.
