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Fabulous Fail-Proof Fruit Custard Recipe

I’ve struggled with how to introduce this fantastic fruit custard dish.

At first, I thought I would wax eloquent about how wonderfully flexible this recipe is, allowing you to butcher experiment with the ingredients, sub out virtually EVERYTHING based on dietary needs or what’s left in the fridge, and still have a delicious creation.

Fruit Custard PIN475

Then I thought I would describe how EASY it is to make. How it only dirties one bowl, one measuring cup, one measuring spoon, one whisk, and one pan. How it simply requires a stir and then baking. No separating the eggs, no whipping the egg whites. Simply dump and bake.

Or, I could rave about this being the perfect blend of creamy and fruity — yet can involve very minimally added sweetener.

How it’s power-packed with protein and can be served for dessert – or breakfast.

How you can make it completely sweetener-free by substituting a mashed banana for the sugar/honey.

THEN I thought about telling you how this recipe is a money saver for using up over-ripe fruit or those little tidbits of frozen/freezer-burned fruit you have stashed in your ice box.

Your kids CAN make their own healthy breakfast!

kids learning to cook

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Nah. Instead I’ll just say this is the best dessert-that-you-can-eat-for-breakfast that we have EVER had. It makes a regular appearance on our family table. Company always raves about it, particularly our blueberry-mango custard. So instead, I leave you with a picture to tempt your taste buds.

Fruit Custard 475

Warning: I recommend doubling this recipe. It goes fast… and you can eat it for breakfast, remember?

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Fruit Custard

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Bethany Wright
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Dessert

Description

It’s as easy as dump, stir and bake for this flawless fruit custard!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1/2 c. butter (1 stick), melted OR ghee OR coconut oil (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!) Update: Some readers responded in the comments that they found the custard a little too buttery/oily for their preference. Sometimes the butter may pool on the top of the custard. You can easily reduce the oil by half and still maintain the integrity of the recipe.
  • 1/2 c. honey OR sucanat OR maple syrup OR 2 mashed bananas
  • (New to Vitacost? Get $10 off your first order through my link!.)
  • 1/2 c. milk OR cream OR kefir OR yogurt OR coconut milk
  • 4 eggs (one or two more won’t hurt if you need to use some up!)
  • 1 Tbs. vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp. salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase)
  • ~2 c. fruit, frozen or fresh; enough to make an even layer in an 8×8 pan. Examples: blueberries, mango, cherries, peaches, raspberries, diced apple, blackberries, raisins, strawberries…


ship kroger


Instructions

  1. Place butter in an 8×8 pan. Place pan in the oven while it pre-heats to 350°F. Remove pan once butter is melted, and set aside.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together honey, milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, and melted butter. (Note: while you can mix these ingredients in the actual 8×8 pan, if your pan is hot it may cook the eggs into scrambled bits. Ask me how I know! 😉 But by all means, feel free to try.)
  3. Dump your choice of fruit evenly in the pan. Pour the batter on top.
  4. Bake 350°F for 35-45 minutes until custard is set (set on the edges, but slightly jiggly in the middle, like baking a pumpkin pie). Remove and let rest for a few minutes. As it cools, it will firm up. Enjoy warm or chilled.

Notes

* Sometimes the custard will “weep” after cooling. If you don’t like the look, add 1/2 cup of flour/almond flour next time.

* You may reduce the sweetener according to your preference. Sometimes I’ll mash one banana and only add 1 Tbs. honey, for flavor. Or I’ll do 1/4 c. honey and toss in a little extra fruit.

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What fruit combinations are you going to try with your Fabulous Fail-Proof Fruit Custard?
Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.

49 thoughts on “Fabulous Fail-Proof Fruit Custard Recipe”

  1. Thank you, Bethany I’ve been making this almost everyday for a couple of weeks now.
    I did find that I needed to let the butter cool to room temperature before blending.
    Been using real maple syrup for the sweetener and part cream part 2% milk for the milk, ½stick of unsalted butter❤️

  2. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I must have overcooked it badly because it was like very firm tofu but “breadier” since I added 1/2 cup of flour to a doubled recipe. :/. The flavor was fantastic so I’ll try again and see if I can get the right texture. I so want this to work! It’s wonderfully healthy. Any cooking tips other than watching edges and looking for center jiggle?

    1. Hilda-Christine

      Holy smokes! If I could give this recipe 6 stars, I would. I used 1/4 cup butter, 2 mashed bananas instead of honey and for the fruit I used 2 cups of cooked Golden Delicious apples. Turned out amazing! Killed with my crowd!

      Even my 7 month old baby loved it ♥️

      Just FYI, I never comment on any recipe, but I just had to make an exception with this one!!






  3. Wow, what a great sounding recipie, just discovered it today! I live in NZ and it’s cold at this time of the year, a nice warm brekkie that I can prepare in advance and just heat up! Mmmmm love the ideas for apple and spice, maybe a wee bit of ginger will go down a treat as well.






    1. Bethany (Contributing Writer)

      Jean – Canned fruit could certainly work!

      I would definitely drain out the juice, otherwise it would make your custard watery. Just be careful what type of canned fruit you get. Ones canned in corn syrup may not make the healthiest option. 😉

      Mmmm. A pineapple-raspberry custard sounds delicious!

  4. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but I doubled the recipe and put in a 9×13. It came out really yummy but swimming in the butter, so it was a thin layer of custard with lots of butter and juices around it. My husband was afraid to eat it cuz he is still in the mentality that fat is bad, and it looked to him like egg berry butter soup. The only thing I can think of maybe that affected it was I put the fruit in straight from the freezer. Should it be thawed first?

    1. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Kacy,
      Others have said “too much butter” as well – Bethany just loves the butt-ah! 😉 You can cut it by 1/2 or even 3/4 in another batch and it will still be moist but not swimming. 🙂 Katie

    2. Bethany - contributing writer for KS

      Kacy – Katie is right. I may be guilty of loving the butter. 😉 Reducing the butter won’t diminish the flavor. I actually now reduce my butter by half (partly for budget reasons) and it turns out great. It will still be a little liquidy when it is warm. If you find the butter still pools, cool it off overnight in the fridge. The butter will draw back into the custard.

      Hopefully you won’t have egg-berry-butter-soup in the future — and your husband will eat it! 🙂

  5. This is INCREDIBLE! We served it with yogurt for breakfast and enjoyed ever bite, scraping the bowls as clean as we could. I made it with 4 eggs and reduced the sweetener to about 1/3 cup. Next time I’ll use 6 eggs and the same amount of sweetener; it was still a bit sweet for our taste (well, at least for Mom at breakfast; the kids and Dad loved it). Thanks for such a great recipe!

    1. Bethany - contributing writer for KS

      Melissa – Glad you liked it! I think it makes for a fabulous breakfast! 😀

    1. Bethany - contributing writer for KS

      Jennifer – Cherry was the first fruit I ever tried in the custard. There’s nothing better than warm cherries in custard!

  6. I may or may not have just made this for lunch with banana as the sweetener and some overripe pluots as the fruit 🙂 With some stove top popcorn alongside, it was perfect! Thanks for the recipe, I will definitely be making it again!

    1. Helen @ Kitchen Stewardship

      Hi Michaella,

      We are dairy free and so used coconut oil and almond milk and it was delicious!

  7. Hilary Dotson

    I loved this! We did it with blueberries, granny smith apples and a touch of cinnamon. Can’t wait to try this around the holidays with cranberries 🙂






  8. Bethany via Facebook

    Kelly – I just tried making it with half the butter. It turned out great. I think you may have discovered another twist to the recipe. 😉

  9. Jessie Weaver

    For some reason custard has been floating around in my head lately, too! I will have to try this. My fruit-loving 3-year-old would gobble it up for breakfast.

  10. What a versatile recipe! I can see making this on a regular basis as fruit is aging. I made my first one on Sunday as breakfast for the week – used peaches & blueberries. For the other ingredients I went with coconut oil, maple syrup & almond/coconut milk. I sprinkled just a bit of my favorite Chicago Old Town Spiced Sugar from the Spice House on top. Going forward, I will definitely be reducing the amount of coconut oil – there are visible lumps of it in the dish now that it has cooled – even through everything was mixed thoroughly. I don’t think reducing the coconut oil will impact the flavor.

  11. Kelly via Facebook

    I mixed the butter in AND added a 1/2 c WW flour and this dish still felt greasy from all the butter. I love butter and have no problem using it, but the quantity called for in this recipe really detracts from the dish, IMO.

  12. Bethany via Facebook

    Kristy — definitely mix all the ingredients together with the butter! You can reduce it a little bit, if needed (though it may sacrifice flavor). Adding a little bit of flour can also help.

  13. Kristy via Facebook

    I just made this and it turned out yummy. The only issue I have is a massive amount of butter is pooling on top. I like butter and everything, but not that much. Should I of mixed all ingredients together with the butter or just reduce it next time?

  14. Ryan via Facebook

    perfect timing … i had a craving for custard today and tried to make some with tapioca but it didnt set – i have ‘soup’ in my fridge! (i drank a little and it tasted fine but would have preferred to eat it with a spoon!) i will try this tomorrow for breakfast with the bulk order of peaches i picked up from my CSA! 🙂

  15. This might be a dumb question, but if I double the recipe into a 15×11 (5 qt) glass pan, do I double the time in the oven?

    This looks very delicious and I hope to be able to make it Sunday evening for dessert.

    1. Kim – not a dumb question at all! Normally I double in two 8×8’s, but I have doubled it in a 9×13 and kept my eye on it after 40 minutes. I want to say it was done around 45-50 minutes.

  16. Oooh, I can’t wait to make this! Breakfast for two old people, please cold bedtime snack. 🙂

  17. Do you have any ideas for alternative cooking methods? We don’t turn use the oven in the summer, but would love to try this in the slow cooker.

    1. Hmmmm. I have never made a custard dish in the crockpot, partly because I usually make this in a pinch. The nice thing is that since it bakes at 350, you can easily do double-triple duty with your oven — breads, muffins, cookies, casseroles, etc.

    2. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

      CW – you might do a quick Google search for “custard recipe slow cooker” and see if there are any recommendations on time/temp, and then apply to Bethany’s ingredients. If you make it work, let us know so we can update the post with that option – I love the idea!! 🙂 katie

      1. It worked! I used a bowl that would fit in my slow cooker, and set it on balls of foil. The custard was done after 2 hours on high (and could probably have come out sooner). My slow cooker does tend to be extra-warm.

    3. This recipe sounds lovely! I’ll have to try it. I created a similar type of healthy breakfast custard recipe (breakfast pumpkin custard and breakfast banana chia nut custard. I usually cook it in my dutch oven on stove top (in my nontoxic nonstick – 20 min or so; ceramic one-25+min.). Through trial and error, I figured out a way to somewhat mimic the oven: preheat greased covered pan, warm uncooked custard mixture before blending. Pour mixture; cover; cook on med-low til done) Anyway, it can be done, but very carefully, noting amts, size of pan and stove. In the crockpot it tends to separate, with.)

    4. I don’t turn my oven on in the summer either–don’t need the extra heat when I don’t have A/C! 🙂 BUT…I have been known to take my toaster oven outside and bake there. An 8″x8″ should fit in most toaster ovens. This recipe looks delish!

      1. Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

        I did this recipe in our toaster oven last week (banana, tiny bit of honey, strawberries and apples) and it worked great! 🙂 Katie

  18. Yum. This is my favorite kind of recipe – lots of options! I think some of the raspberries we will pick next week are going to meet this fate. I love having easy go-to fruit recipes.

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