This post will show you how to make custard powder from scratch. With this easy recipe, you’ll have a warm, creamy vanilla sauce ready to top all your pies and desserts, in no time.
Ok, I know, I know. Homemade Custard Powder is a super cheat but it also happens to be a brilliant kitchen hack for creamy, vanilla flavoured sauce, at the ready in your pantry, at all times.
I have a couple of recipes on the blog that use this in some way and I grew up with it always in the pantry Mum would whip up a batch of warm custard and we’d pour it over desserts like apple crumble and apple pie.
It’s my go-to dessert sauce, long before ice cream and cream. and works perfectly over pies and tarts like this Warm Apple Crostata or this Apple Plum Cobbler.
After posting my Homemade Custard Creams I had a number of readers ask “What is custard powder” and it was the first time I realised that not everyone grew up with it.
So what is it?
This fine yellow powder is made up of thickeners, milk powder and flavouring that turns into a rich, sweet vanilla sauce once heated with milk and sugar. Typically it’s used as a quick way to make a simple custard / creme anglais.
It’s readily available in many parts of the world including Australia but, alas, not everywhere. You could buy some via this link but it’s just as easy to make it yourself using everyday ingredients.
Yes, real creme anglais is better but, if heating milk and tempering eggs is not your thing, then custard powder comes close and could be just what you need. It’s the easy recipe you need when you have a hankering for sauce to smother your apple tart with, and you want it quick.
It also works well in some desserts like the cookies and the buttercream on these cupcakes.
Ingredients you’ll need
- Milk powder
- Corn flour (cornstarch)
- Vanilla sugar
- Powdered yellow food colouring (optional)
Vanilla sugar is a vanilla infused sugar and I find it in the spice aisle of my local grocery store. If you’re unable to find vanilla sugar you have a few options
- make your own by blitzing together vanilla bean seeds and granulates sugar in a food processor
- use vanilla extract – this will result in lumps but as long as they are as small as possible and distributed evenly it will be fine.
- use regular granulated sugar in place of the vanilla sugar and add the seeds from half a vanilla bean to the mixture.
How to make it
Custard powder is incredibly simple to make.
- Place the milk powder, corn flour, vanilla and food colouring into a food processor or blender and blitz to combine for about 10 seconds.
- Tip it into an airtight container and it will store for as long as the expiration date on your powdered milk.
How to turn it into custard
- Add 1/2 cup of custard powder to a saucepan with 2 cups of milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
- Whisk it until there are no lumps, then heat and stir with a spatula until it thickens and just starts to bubble. Make sure to stir it constantly so you don’t get lumps.
Substitutions / Options
- Powdererd milk – you can use skim or full cream powdered milk. I use skim.
- Vanilla Sugar – you could use vanilla extract or real vanilla beans (the mixture will have lumps but as long as they’re evenly dispersed, it’s still fine to use)
- Milk – when adding the liquid milk you can use light or full cream milk or even water if you want to keep it lighter.
- Sugar – when cooking, add sugar to your own taste. The amount in the recipe for me is perfect sweetness but you may like it sweeter.
Ways to use custard powder;
More desserts using custard
- Lemon Vanilla Custard Slice
- How to make Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere)
- Salted Caramel Pot De Creme
- Fruit Custard Tart
- Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes with Custard Buttercream
How to Make Custard Powder
Ingredients
FOR THE HOMEMADE CUSTARD POWDER
- 1 cup milk powder
- 1/2 cup corn flour (cornstarch)
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered yellow food colouring
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (6 teaspoons) vanilla sugar
TO TURN IT INTO CUSTARD
- 1/2 cup homemade custard powder
- 2 cups milk
- 1-2 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
Instructions
FOR THE HOMEMADE CUSTARD POWDER
- Add the milk powder, corn flour, food colouring and vanilla to a food processor or blender, then blend for about 10 seconds.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the pantry.
TO TURN IT INTO CUSTARD
- Add 1/2 cup of custard powder to a small saucepan with the sugar and milk. Whisk to combine, then heat over low heat stirring constantly until thick and beginning to bubble. Add more milk if you want a thinner consistency.
Video
Notes
- I use a standard 20ml Australian tablespoon (= 4 teaspoons worldwide)
- Milk powder: You can use skim or full cream versions
- Vanilla: I like to use vanilla sugar as it blends in easier. You can use vanilla extract but you will get a few lumps. This isn't a problem - just try not to blend it too long as the warmer the mixture gets, the bigger the lumps get and just make sure any lumps are well dispersed in the mix. This way, when you scoop out the powder to use it, each batch will still have vanilla in it. You can also use vanilla beans straight from the pod.
- Milk in the custard: Whole / full cream milk will give a creamier sauce, however you can use light or skim milk or even water if you'd like a lighter version
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in the pantry. Dry mix will last as long as the expiration on your milk powder. If you use vanilla extract or beans, you should try to use the custard powder within a month.
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OH this is so fun! I’ve never used custard powder before but I’ve used things like instant pudding from the box which I would imagine is quite similar. I’m all about homemade but not above anything that gives you a quicky treat. I love the post!
It’s different to pudding. It’s more like if you could buy creme anglais in a box 🙂 Sometimes nostalgia beats making the real thing
Interesting! I’ve never had creme anglais either, too many things to try haha!
Marie, this is brilliant! Sometimes I love a vanilla sauce on sweets instead of whipped cream or ice cream. This is perfect!
Thanks so much Kelly 🙂
This is awesome! I live in the USA in a small community. I’m making German Custard Snails, similar to a cinnamon roll but with a custard filling. They call for custard powder and no place in my area even knew what it was. I thought it was probably similar to cornstarch but then I found your blog post. Brilliant! Using your recipe for custard powder will be so much better than stirring in plain cornstarch! Thank you for posting.
Excellent. I’m so happy you’ll find it useful 🙂
Can I use soymilk to make custard ? I don’t use eggs either. Thanks
Hello Kanan, I’m sorry, I don’t use soy milk, so I couldn’t say if it will work or not. I’d love to hear if you try it though.
Look for an imitation (?) Milk powder. Any milk will work as the liquid milk.
Don’t know where to buy powdered yellow food coloring? I will cook up a serving and add a drop of liquid yellow food coloring to make it yellow. Birds Custard is hard to find in the States and is expensive to ship. Thanks for posting this recipe for everyone to use. 🥰
Hi there, that will work perfectly. It’s obviously just for the classic colour that you get with box custard so not at all necessary. So glad this recipe is helpful for you 🙂
Shere do you find vanilla sugar?
It’s normally where the spices are in the stores
I love Bird’s Custard. My English Mother-in-Law used it many times…Here in Canada it is a staple.
I am glad to find a Copycat for it. Am anxious to give it a try…and compare.
Thanks Betty, hope you enjoy it
Can i add custard powder in cold milk and drink without cooking or boiling it
No, it’s designed to be heated. It won’t taste very good or mix together well without cooking.
Hi! Is the food coloring a must for the recipe or just for visual purposes?
Thank you
Hi there, it’s just for colouring. Making real custard from scratch uses egg yolks so it takes on a yellow colour, so most custard powders add a little colouring to match that.
Is custard sauce supposed to be served warm over a dessert such as pie or cake, or should it be cool? I’ve never had this before, and I’m accustomed to having cold ice cream or cool whipped cream on desserts, not a warm cream sauce, so this is curious to me. Thank you for posting the instructions. 🙂
Hi there. It is traditionally served warm and makes any dessert really cosy. There are many people who happily eat it cold too. If you want to eat it cold, you may need to thin it out with a bit of milk or water until it’s the consistency you like.
This is wonderful! I haven’t tried this but I’ll surely do and give a feedback. Thanks so much.
That’s great Patricia. Please let me know what you think 🙂
This is a great recipe to have.
Thank you Marie
Thank you so much Pamela
I have made my own eggless custard with cornflour on many occasions. I actually I prefer it to traditional custard because eggless means a lot less filling, which is nice after a meal followed by dessert. But I’ve not thought of making up a container with the custard powder, I’ll have to give that a try! But I’m a little confused about the cornflour in the pictures and videos. I’m from the UK and we have a yellow coloured cornflour like the one the photos, but it’s not just the starch, it’s the whole maize and is called maize flour. I know from having used it, it would not be right for custard as it’s not finely ground enough… it would produce more of a porridge than a smooth custard when cooked. What we call cornflour (corn starch) is only the starch part and is pure white in colour, not yellow… a very light flour, a lot like the look and feel of icing sugar. So I’m wondering what kind of flour you have used in this recipe… is it the full maize flour more finely ground perhaps?
I also noticed the mention of non dairy milk in the comments… I have used both dairy and non dairy milk in making my own custard… they both work very well. I found the most successful in terms of flavour was to use a vanilla flavoured non dairy milk and only add a little extra vanilla flavouring while heating it up. I’m not sure why plain non dairy milk produces a slightly weird flavoured custard despite using a high quality vanilla essence, but it does… very strange! It was never a problem when making custard with dairy milk. Also other flavoured milks can be used to create different flavoured custards. Traditionally in the UK custard was flavoured with rose essence, which doesn’t sound very appealing now, but vanilla was an exotic flower not grown in the UK. You can get quite inventive when it comes to the flavour of custard!
Great tips, Suzy. You might be confusing the colouring in the mixture that makes it yellow. Cornflour here is the same as yours – a white, very fine powder. You can see it added in the video below the recipe card. Hope that helps