Saturday, March 7, 2015

Easy Baked Coconut Custard - Low Carb, Dairy Free & Great for Breakfast

This morning we awoke to a bright, beautiful, chilly morning. Believe it or not, we actually had snow yesterday morning. It didn't last long but was quite a surprise for a March morning. I actually snapped a photo of a robin sitting in one of the snow covered trees in our backyard looking around as if it was in shock at what it was seeing!

This morning I enjoyed a super delicious and different kind of breakfast. So many of us low carbers are frequently looking for something to eat for breakfast other than yogurt or eggs. While I have several delicious low carb biscuit, bread, donut, muffin, coffee cake, and bagel recipes available...I am always looking for other alternatives. Last night I didn't feel like cooking dinner, so hubby just picked up Chinese for dinner on his way home (I had steamed chicken with vegetables without sauce and added my own Tamari). While he was doing that, I actually whipped up quick and easy individual baked coconut custards to be enjoyed as either dessert OR breakfast. I had one of them warm for dessert last night that I topped with a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips to soften and get melty. It was delicious! But, this morning, I had one for breakfast warmed for a minute or so in the microwave and drizzled with sugar free maple flavored syrup. It was AMAZING! How is THAT for a breakfast containing a little over 1 net carb??? Each custard had about 7.3 grams of fat. For those of you that are LCHF (low carb high fat)...you can bump the fat up a bit with a nice little pat of butter melted on top. WOWZA!

For the milk part of the custard, you can use cream, half and half, almond milk or coconut milk. I actually used Silk's unsweetened cashew milk that is rich and creamy. It made an amazing rich dairy free custard. I used 6 whole eggs in my custard. If you prefer it a little less eggy, simply reduce the eggs to 5 eggs instead. I added a few tablespoons of unsweetened coconut to give the custard a little texture and chew and it was the perfect amount.

Each custard cup contains approximately 1.2 net carbs each, 7.3 grams fat and less than 1 gram of sugar (.76), 5.8 grams protein and 102 calories each. Check out the photos and recipe below. Enjoy!







Take a peek inside after the first scoop...rich and creamy


Baked Coconut Custard - Dairy Free

Ingredients:

3 cups unsweetened cashew milk (I used Silk brand) 
3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
6 eggs
1/2 cup granular Swerve Sweetener
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease six 6-ounce custard cups or ramekins.

Combine milk and coconut and heat just until hot but not boiling. In a saucepan, heat approximately 2 quarts of water until it just begins to simmer.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, sweetener, salt, and vanilla. Add hot milk mixture and whisk until combined. Divide custard mixture evenly among custard cups/ramekins. Top with dash of cinnamon, if desired. Create a water bath (Bain-Marie) by placing custard cups in a large rectangular or oblong baking dish. Carefully fill baking dish with the with hot water until it comes about half way up the sides of the ramekins or custard cups.

Bake in the center of oven for approximately 45 to 50 minutes, or until custard is just set and jiggles very slightly in the center or a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. After removing from oven, carefully remove custard cups from water and cool on wire rack. Serve warm or cover cups and refrigerate about 2 hours to serve chilled. Store in refrigerator.

*Note: Cream, half-and-half, coconut milk or almond milk can be substituted.


         

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can I use Almond Milk?

ditamac said...

Can't wait to make this. Love that you put the nutritional info on it. That is extremely helpful. Thanks.

Charlotte Moore said...

I love coconut custard. I have made a few crustless french coconut pies and there are so good. We don't have to eat GF but when I made them for a couple people that does we loved it too.

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

WOWZA is right! This one is *really* calling my name! That little "sneak-peek" with the spoon was just TOO much! :-)

We haven't seen our first robin yet, but they have a habit of showing up while everything's still covered with snow. I guess they must know what they're doing, though. Those plucky little "critters" always seem to survive just fine ... not to mention the winter birds who stay all season in the freezing cold, including my favorites, those tiny little chickadees! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Anonymous,

Yes, that should work -- it's noted at the bottom of the recipe that almond milk, coconut milk, cream or half-and-half can be substituted. I've found cashew milk to be a bit creamier textured than almond milk, but it should still work fine. :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Ditamac.

Thanks. I hope you enjoy it! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Charlotte,

It's always nice when you make a recipe that ends up being one everyone can enjoy, isn't it. It had been a very long time since I had eaten custard and I really enjoyed it. I bet it would be great made with cream, too! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

I hope you enjoy it. Are you still getting snow up there? I know so much of the north and east is.

I love chickadees too...but haven't seen them around much recently. They are so cute. :-)

BettyAnne said...

These coconut custard cups are delicious! If you add a little more coconut and a few chopped raisins, you will have "faux" rice pudding. You are right GGC. They are great for breakfast, a snack, or dessert.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi BettyAnne,

So happy you are enjoying them! I just finished my last one last night and am looking forward to making more soon. You are right...I bet the extra coconut and raisins would make a delicious "rice" pudding! Enjoy! :-)

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

I made the custard last night and it's absolutely delicious ... so delicate and tender. Delightful!

I really like the Silk cashew milk. I've been trying it out in just about everything. It's a little different than homemade, but I like it just as much. I find that I prefer it to almond milk. I'll probably alternate between cashew and coconut milk, as I really like that, too ... except for hot cocoa ... for me, the cashew milk wins, hands down!

Our local "yard birds" (that's what my hubby calls the Egg Lady's chickens) are producing again and I used their beautiful eggs for your beautiful custard. Perfection in a ramekin! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

So glad you enjoyed the baked custard. I need to make that again -- I think I have enough cashew milk left in the carton to make another batch.

I bet they were particularly delicious with your fresh "yard bird" eggs! :-)

Anonymous said...

Anyone know how much stevia (liquid or powder) I should use for this recipe. It's only sweetener I can use. Thanks!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Anonymous,

Unfortunately stevia is one of the sweeteners where each brand and type (liquid, powder, etc.) vary so much in level of sweetness. I would suggest using the amount that would give you the equivalent sweetness of 1/2 cup sugar. None of the kinds I use are the same but most I can find an "equivalent chart" for online. Try looking up your brand to see if you can find a chart that tells you 1/2 cup sugar equals ____ teaspoons (etc.) of your type of stevia. :-)

teaforme said...

I love this! I've made it over and over again.
Thank you for the recipe.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I make this often, usually with full fat coconut milk or cashew milk, and love the recipe... thank you Gourmet Girl!
Today I made it with unsweetened almond milk and it was my favorite. I used 7 large eggs and the consistency was perfect. So it's almond milk from now on for me.

Anonymous said...

Could honey, maple syrup or a coconut sugar be used as the sweetener?

Stacy p said...

I made this with coconut/almond milk and used maple sugar instead of sugar. However, I only added 1/4 cup of the maple sugar by accident, so I drizzled a little maple syrup on top when I served it. It was really good and still not too sweet.