Huckleberry Egg Custard

THE EVERGREEN huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) is an important species for us West Coasters. It’s a lowland coastal variety, and it’s usually the last of the huckleberries to fruit, often when other species are covered in snow.

Clearcuts are a good place to find them, and anywhere else where they can get ample sun. They fruit in clusters, which means the picking is faster than it is with red huckleberries.

This egg custard is simple as can be and shows off the hucks. 

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup water
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup huckleberries
fresh nutmeg or cinnamon, grated to taste

 

1. Pre-heat over to 325 degrees. Combine milk and water in a small saucepan and bring to boil.

2. Mix egg yolks, sugar, salt, and vanilla together in a bowl.

3. Slowly whisk in hot milk-water mixture until frothy. Pour into 4 ramekins.

4. Place ramekins in an oven-proof dish or tray filled with warm water. Bake for 40 minutes. Carefully place a small handful of huckleberries atop each custard and bake another 10 minutes. Test one for doneness with a knife tip; if it comes away clean, the custard is done. Sprinkle with fresh nutmeg or cinnamon. Serve hot or cold.

2 thoughts on “Huckleberry Egg Custard

  1. Anonymous

    I love the abundance of this variety but have had poor luck in ever finding any that weren’t just coated with one form of dust, insect debris (most often with the insect in residence) or other form of undesirable. I’ve often just given up, correctly assuming it’s going to take hours to sort through the resulting mess I end up taking home. I must be picking in the wrong kind of forests!

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