Luxuriously smooth and creamy with a coconut crumble top, this old-fashioned Baked Coconut Custard is a dessert that'll disappear fast.
The Recipe for Coconut Custard
I found this recipe in a Women's Weekly magazine supplement from the 1980s.
Yep, add this recipe to your list of reasons why the 80s were so great!
The recipe looked lovely and I'd never made a custard dessert using condensed milk before so I thought I'd give it a try.
I'm so glad I did.
It's such a smooth custard and the flavour works so well with the coconut topping.
It's also super easy to put together – you'll need only 10 minutes.
It can also be served hot or cold, and you could make it fancy by serving it with a few berries.
Ingredients for Coconut Custard
This recipe calls for just six ingredients:
- milk
- caster / superfine sugar
- thickened / heavy cream
- eggs
- condensed milk
- desiccated coconut (unsweetened).
The ingredient measurements can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to make Coconut Custard
Prepping
You'll need:
- 4 ramekins (or one medium casserole dish of about 1 litre capacity)
- 1 large baking dish (to use as a water bath during baking)
Measure out the ingredients (quantities can be found below in the recipe card) and pre-heat oven to moderate (180 degrees celsius/355 degrees fahrenheit).
Mixing
Combine the milk and sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
Place the eggs and cream in a mixing bowl and beat until combined.
Add the condensed milk and warm milk/sugar mixture to the mixing bowl and beat again until combined.
Baking
Pour the mixture into your ramekins or casserole dish.
Sprinkle coconut evenly on top of the mixture.
Place the ramekins or casserole dish into a larger baking dish and pour in enough hot water so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins or dish.
Bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes (or until the custard has set and has golden brown patches on top).
Serving
This dessert can be served hot or cold.
You can enjoy it just as it is or add some fresh berries to the top of the custard.
Recipe FAQs
Q. How long will this dessert keep?
Once cool, store your baked custard in the fridge for up to a few days.
Q. How do I re-heat before serving?
You can re-heat the custard by covering with foil and placing in a moderate oven for about 15-20 minutes or heating in the microwave for 30-60 seconds.
Q. Do you have any other custard recipes?
Yes! You might also like these recipes for Custard Slice, Custard made with egg and Brandy Custard.
Q. What about more recipes for simple and wonderful old-fashioned desserts?
Yes, I have plenty more of these, too. Start with these recipes: Easy Lemon Meringue Pie, Apple Sponge, Bread and Butter Pudding and Lemon Delicious.
Coconut Custard
Equipment
- 4 ramekins (or one medium casserole dish, about 1 litre capacity)
- 1 large baking dish (to use as a water bath during baking)
Ingredients
- 375 ml milk (1 ½ cups)
- 55 grams caster / superfine sugar (¼ cup)
- 165 ml thickened / heavy cream (⅔ cup)
- 2 eggs
- 395 grams tin condensed milk
- 50 grams desiccated coconut (unsweetened) (½ cup)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to moderate (180 degrees celsius/355 degrees fahrenheit).
- Combine milk and sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.
- Place eggs and cream in a mixing bowl and beat until combined.
- Add the condensed milk and warm milk/sugar mixture to the mixing bowl and beat again until combined.
- Pour mixture into ramekins or casserole dish. Sprinkle coconut evenly on top of the mixture.
- Place ramekins or casserole dish into a larger baking dish and pour in enough hot water so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins or dish.
- Bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes (or until the custard has set and has golden brown patches on top).
BMJ
I also found an almost identical recipe that said it was also from a magazine handout, but the slight differences make me wonder about the amount of sweetened condensed milk amount. The big difference is that the other recipe is half of this recipe, but also uses 1 can on sweetened milk.
Your help please because I love custard and want to make this soon .
Thank you
Libby Hakim
Hi there. I've checked the original recipe and it's correct - 1 tin of condensed milk. I find recipes that use anything less than a tin annoying as you've got the leftover condensed milk. I know I have one recipe like this but can't remember any others. I loved this custard!