between thickening and curdling. Turning up
the heat is like accelerating on a wet road
while you’re looking for an unfamiliar
driveway. You get to your destination faster,
but you may not be able to brake in time to
avoid skidding past it. Chemical reactions like
coagulation develop momentum, and don’t
stop the second you turn off the heat. If the
thickening proceeds too fast, you may not be
able to detect and stop it before it overshoots
done and hits curdled. A curdled cream can
often be salvaged by straining out the lumps,
but an overcooked custard is a loss.
Always Add Hot Ingredients to Cold Careful
heating is also important during preparation
of the mix. Most custard and cream mixes are
made by scalding milk or cream — quickly
heating it just to the boil — and then stirring
it into the combined eggs and sugar. This
technique heats the eggs gently but quickly to
140 or 150ºF, just 30 to 40ºF short of the