Why we love it
This homemade custard powder recipe is a great kitchen hack to have on hand. When you want a creamy, vanilla flavoured sauce, at the ready in your pantry, this shelf-stable version is always a winner.
Custard is my go-to dessert sauce, way before ice cream and cream. and works perfectly over pies and tarts like this warm apple crostata, apple crumble or this apple plum cobbler.
I also use it in it’s powdered form in some recipes like these homemade custard creams which had a number of readers ask “What is custard powder”. This was the first time I realised that not everyone grew up with it.
This recipe was first published here on September 4th, 2019. It has been updated with new images and more information.
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What is custard powder?
So, what is custard powder, anyway? This fine yellow powdered ingredient is a shelf-stable version of a runny custard or crème anglaise. Custard powder is made up of thickeners, milk powder and vanilla flavouring that turns into a creamy, sweet pourable vanilla sauce once heated with milk and sugar.
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, homemade runny custard from scratch is better but, if heating milk and tempering eggs is not your thing, then vanilla custard powder comes close and could be just what you need.
Custard powder ingredients
Just 4 simple ingredients are all you need.
- Milk powder.
- Corn flour (cornstarch) – NOT maize flour. This is just the starch, we call it cornflour in Australia but other places in the world may know it as corn starch.
- Vanilla sugar / vanillin sugar – I use my homemade vanilla sugar but there are many store-bought brands out there too like the Masterfoods one shown in the picture above.
- Powdered yellow food colouring (just for colour so it’s purely optional).
What is vanilla sugar?
Vanilla sugar is a vanilla infused sugar and you can find it in the spice aisle of many local grocery stores. If you’re unable to find vanilla sugar you have a few options
- make your own homemade vanilla sugar by blitzing together vanilla bean seeds and granulated sugar in a food processor.
- use vanilla extract in the custard powder – this will result in lumps but as long as they are as small as possible and distributed evenly it will be fine. You can also skip it and add it when cooking the custard.
Substitutions / Options
- Powdererd milk – you can use skim or full cream powdered milk. I use skim just because it’s the one I keep on hand.
- 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). It won’t last as long as the all powdered version.
- Milk – when adding the liquid milk you can use light or full cream milk or even water if you want to keep it lighter. You can also use plant-based milk alternatives if you like.
- 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.
- Cornflour / cornstarch: You can swap this for an equal quantity of potato starch.
How to make custard powder
This quick mix dessert powder is incredibly simple to make.
- Place the milk powder, corn flour, vanilla and food colouring into fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Whisk with a ballon whisk until all fully combined.
- 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 ½ cup of custard powder to a saucepan with 2 cups of milk and 2 ½ tablespoons of sugar.
- Whisk it until there are no lumps, then heat and stir with the whisk (don’t agitate, just stir) until it thickens and starts to bubble. Once bubbling, cook for 30 seconds. Make sure to stir it constantly so you don’t get lumps.
Tips and tricks
- For the perfect smooth, creamy texture make sure to continually stir the custard sauce while cooking.
- Use a higher ratio of custard powder to milk, to create a thicker custard perfect for trifle.
- If you can’t find powdered food colouring (from cake shops) you can leave it out entirely. Or just add some liquid colouring while cooking if you want the yellow colour.
- Chocolate custard: Add ½ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to the mixture for chocolate version.
- Strawberry custard: Add ¼ cup freeze dried strawberry powder to the mixture for a strawberry version.
Ways to use custard powder;
Did you try this vanilla custard powder recipe?
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Ingredients
FOR THE HOMEMADE CUSTARD POWDER
- 1 cup milk powder (120g/4.2oz)
- ½ cup corn flour (US cornstarch) (65g/2.3oz)
- ¼ teaspoon powdered yellow food colouring
- 1 ½ tablespoons (6 teaspoons) vanilla sugar
TO TURN IT INTO CUSTARD
- ½ cup homemade custard powder
- 2 cups milk
- 2 ½ tablespoons white granulated sugar (or to taste)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Fine mesh sieve
Instructions
- FOR THE HOMEMADE CUSTARD POWDER:Add the milk powder, corn flour, food colouring and vanilla to a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Whisk well to combine.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the pantry.
- TO TURN IT INTO CUSTARD:Add ½ cup of custard powder to a medium saucepan with the sugar and milk.
- Whisk to combine, then heat over low-medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk until beginning to bubble. Continue to stir while bubble break the surface for 30 seconds until quite thick.
- Add more milk if you want a thinner consistency.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Milk powder: You can use skim or full cream versions. I use skim and nutritional info provided is based on skim milk powder.
-
Vanilla: I like to use Masterfooods Vanillin Sugar as it blends in easiest and remains shelf stable. There are many other brands of vanilla sugar too.
- You can use pure vanilla extract but use a food processor or blender to combine the mixture instead of the whisk and bowl.
- If using extract, as it’s a wet ingredient you will get a few lumps. This is fine – 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 blended through.
- 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. You can also use other milk alternatives though they will add their individual flavour to the custard.
- 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.
- Nutritional values are based on just the custard powder made with skim milk powder. Values for the made custard will depend on the type of milk you use.
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59 Comments on “How to Make Custard Powder”
Thank you! It’s amazing!
So happy you love it, Jan.
Thank you! I saw a recipe for Canadian Nanaimo Bars and it uses custard powder, which is not on the shelves in my part of the country. I use all organic ingredients, this will work perfectly for me. Again, thank you!
For what it is worth (and laughing) – In America, eggless custard is normally called pudding. The younger crowd is now calling custard, meaning it has eggs, pudding. It is maddening for those of us allergic to eggs. Thankfully, I have from-scratch recipes for pudding.
You’re very welcome, Debreena. Glad it helps 🙂
Oh my goodness. I made some chocolate pudding, then a batch of your basic custard recipe after making the custard powder & put it on top to try it out. It is killer! My husband suggested it for a custard-filled doughnut or cupcakes, or… laughing…
I did alter the custard recipe a teeny-weeny bit. I had vanilla powder & added 2 tsp instead of 1 tsp. Oh my. It was not too much at all. Give it a try. ;D
Thank you for the recipe! I cannot wait to make the nanaimo bars using your custard powder recipe.
I’m so happy you love it, Debreena. I’d love to hear how the nanaimo bars turn out too 🙂
i love it. my son used to love custard powder before he died. this brings back memories. thank you Sally Xx
I’m so happy this brings back special memories for you.
Wow this is a very delicious and simple recipe.thanks very much
So happy you love it, Leah.
Oh awesome, I just realised you’re in Aussie too. Would you use this in any recipe that uses custard powder on a one to one basis? I’ve been using packet custard powder that is so yellow I’m wondering what on earth is in it 😳
Hi Teresa. Yes, you can use this like you would store-bought custard powder.
Good day to you Marie. I’d never before heard of Custard Powder so finding it called for in a recipe sent me on a search. Google told me about you.
I’m not able to eat corn, so I’m wondering if you would know, or have an opinion about substituting Arrowroot powder/flour in the place of corn flour/starch might work well? Thank you for your assistance.
Hello Katie, I’m sorry, but I’ve not tested these options.
I also cannot eat corn so I use potato starch (found in the bulk section of Winco, looks and feels just like cornstarch, find it on amazon if your grocery store doesn’t have it) in equal portions instead of cornstarch and it works great with no flavor change. Game changer!!
Such a helpful tip, Valerie. Thanks so much.
What can I use instead of milk powder 🤔.
You could try coconut milk powder but you’ll get a coconut flavour and I haven’t tested it, so not sure if it works the same in the same quantities.
Custard powder how made in how much we put in cake vegetarian or gluten free
Hi Anna, I’m not sure I understand your question.
What is vanilla sugar
It’s vanilla flavoured sugar.
Wow, I have been looking for custard powder in Brazil, no luck, stayed there for 4 years. Had to bring custard powder from South Africa. My son is posted to Morocco now. I have been looking for custard powder again, with no luck. Going through your post, what a dream. Thank you for posting the recipe of making custard powder at home. Thanks a million, may Allah bless you.
I’m so happy this is helpful for you Hakim
Hi, thank you for sharing the recipe.
Can I still add egg if I want to make custard with this powder?
Thanks.
Hello, no, use this recipe instead – https://www.sugarsaltmagic.com/how-to-make-creme-anglaise/
Thank you for your reply.
I converted the recipe in gram, I hope my conversion is correct : 125 g of milk powder and 60 g corn starch.
Have a nice day.
It very good and helpful
This has the best results I made it and this is so delicious Thanks marie
Thank you Binuri, so happy you love it.
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
This is a great recipe to have.
Thank you Marie
Thank you so much Pamela
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 🙂
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.
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.
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.
Very admirable job goodE
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
Shere do you find vanilla sugar?
It’s normally where the spices are in the stores
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 🙂
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.
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 🙂
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!