Soft baked custard, mixed berry jam, and a buttery oat streusel, this berry custard cake is creamy, tart, sweet and a little crunchy. *Updated as of 03|06|24*
Does Custard need a water bath?
Usually yes, custard does need a water bath. However, the size of this cake makes that a little difficult so instead, it is baked with a dish of hot, almost boiling, water on the rack below to help steam thecustard.
How do you tell if custard is baked?
Custard should still be WOBBLY when fully baked, it can definitely be tricky to tell with this recipe so be sure you have an oven thermometer. In this recipe the custard is partially baked before the berries and streusel are added. The custard is ready to be assembled with the other layers when it has a semi set top that will prevent the berries from falling in.
Can this be made in advance?
Yes! Ideally this baked custard cake needs to set overnight to firm up enough to serve. Due to all the moisture, it does weep slightly but don’t worry you can just pour off any excess moisture before serving. Ideally make it 1-2 days in advance.
What berries can I use?
In this recipe I used mostly raspberries and some blueberries but you could also use tart cherries (sweet ones are too sweet with the custard and streusel), blackberries, or currants. I wouldn’t recommend using strawberries as they are too watery. Fresh or frozen work but I tend to use frozen especially in the winter since they are more guaranteed to be ripe.
Additional Recipes to try:
Tips for making Baked Custard and Berry Jam
- When making any type of jam it’s important to use a heavy bottomed pot to keep the berries from burning.
- If you’re using fresh berries for the jam, I like to let them sit in the sugar overnight first to macerate but only if you have time, if not, don’t worry about it!
- Make sure to allow the berries to cool enough so they thicken up. I recommend pouring it onto a sheet pan and using a spatula to spread it out and move it around so that it cools off faster.
- While the custard isn’t cooked before baking, the eggs are tempered by pouring hot milk over them. This keeps the eggs from curdling when they hit the hot oven.
- Don’t over bake this cake, start checking the custard after 15 minutes to see if the top is set enough to add the berry jam, it can still be VERY WOBBLY.
- Once baked it’ll be very hard to wait but you have to. Allow the custard to come to room temperature before letting it set for at least 3 hours in the fridge but up to overnight.
- This recipe can be made gluten free by swapping the flour in the streusel with gluten free 1:1 flour.
Ingredients
- Frozen Blueberries (or Blackberries) and Raspberries: As mentioned in the tips, other berries can be used but these are my go to because they are easy to find and guaranteed to be ripe when purchased frozen. The triple berry blend from trader joes would also be perfect, just make sure not to include strawberries.
- Orange zest: I love using orange zest in the jam and the custard but you can omit if you need to!
- Lemon: Lemon zest and juice is added to the berry jam to balance out the sweetness and enhance the berry flavors.
- Granulated Sugar: Standard white granulated sugar is used in the jam, the streusel, and the custard.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter will work for the streusel. Make sure it is soft or even slightly melted to make it easy to mix.
- Oats: Rolled oats add a yummy texture and flavor into the streusel. I also added in 30 grams of toasted and chopped hazelnuts because I had them in my fridge but they definitely aren’t necessary.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds flavor and enhances sweetness in the custard and streusel.
- Salt: Fine sea salt balances out sweetness and enhances the flavors in the streusel and custard.
- All Purpose Flour: Any all purpose flour will work for the streusel. I haven’t tested gluten free flour but I think it would work for this recipe!
- Corn Starch: *Not pictured* Corn starch is whisked in with the sugar to help thicken and stabilize the custard
- Milk: Ideally use whole milk for the custard, I haven’t tested plant based milks so I can’t say if they would work.
- Heavy Cream: *Not pictured* A combo of heavy cream and milk makes a rich and delicious custard.
- Eggs: I use standard large eggs from the store. This recipe uses four full eggs.
How to make a Berry Custard Cake
Toast the Sugar
- *This step is optional but adds delicious flavor! Alternatively for a richer caramel flavor, caramelize 125 grams of the sugar in a non-stick pan over medium heat until it becomes amber colored. Pour onto a parchment lined baking sheet and allow it to harden. Break it into shards and add it into the milk and heavy cream to allow it to dissolve as they heat up. Whisk the remaining 50 grams of sugar with the corn starch.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven and one 2 levels down.
- Pour the sugar 125 grams of sugar for the custard into an oven safe pan. Place it in the preheated oven on the middle rack and bake for 1 hour, stirring the sugar every 10 minutes. You want the sugar to become a light brown but not turn into caramel. If you see it start to liquify, stop baking immediately and transfer it to a cold pan.
- While the sugar toasts, you can start on the jam.
- Once baked increase the heat 400 F.
Raspberry Blueberry Jam Layer
- In a heavy bottomed pot, pour in the 510 grams of frozen raspberries and 170 grams of frozen blueberries. (you can also do 340 grams of raspberries and 340 grams of blueberries if you love blueberries)
- Add in half of the orange zest, all the lemon zest, sugar, and lemon juice. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until thick and jammy.
- Remove from the heat and pour into a large shallow dish and allow it to cool to room temperature while you make the streusel.
Streusel
- In a medium mixing bowl, add in the soft butter, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Use a fork to combine.
- Pour in the oats and optionally the chopped hazelnuts. Stir to combine.
- Finally, pour in the flour and use the fork to rub the flour into the butter mixture.
- Set aside.
Baked Custard
- Boil a full kettle of water while preparing the custard, set aside once boiling.
- Line a 9″ metal round pan with a large sheet of parchment paper that reaches up the sides. An 8″ pan will work as well. You can just press the parchment into the pan and crease the paper on the sides so that it lays flat around the edges.
- In a medium, heat safe bowl, add in the starch, toasted sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Then add in the four eggs, orange zest, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk to combine. Place the bowl on a damp rag to keep it from sliding around.
- Pour the milk and heavy cream in a pot and heat over medium heat, stirring often to keep it from burning. Bring the milk just to a simmer.
- Once just barely bubbling, slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture while whisking the eggs constantly. DO NOT STOP WHISKING until all the milk is added.
- Pour the custard mixture into the lined pan.
- Pour the hot water into an oven safe baking dish and place it on the lower rack in the oven.
- Then, place the pan with the custard in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes until partially set.
Assemble & Bake
- After 25 minutes, check the custard, it should be just starting to set on top but still wobble. It just needs to be set enough to spoon the cooled jam on top. If not yet, bake for another 5 minutes and check again. It’s ok if some of the jam sinks in when you add it, the layers just won’t be as neat. I almost always need the extra 5 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven but leave the oven on.
- Gently spoon the jam in an even layer on top of the partially set custard.
- Crumble the streusel on top of the jam layer. Make sure not to clump the streusel too much as it will become difficult to cut through once set.
- Place the cake back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. It should still wobble but not too much. The streusel will be a little pale but still fully baked. Think of it looking a bit like jello when you wiggle it.
- Take the cake out of the oven once finished baking. Allow it to cool on a wire rack until it comes to room temperature.
- Once cooled place the cake in the fridge to set for a minimum of three hours or overnight.
- Dust with powdered sugar before using the tip of a sharp knife to cut through the streusel and then the remaining layers. Don’t worry if a bit of liquid has seeped out of the cake, you can pour it off or absorb it a paper towel.
Berry Custard Cake
Equipment
- 9" round metal pan
Ingredients
Berry Jam
- 510 grams raspberries frozen
- 170 grams blueberries frozen
- 1 lemon zested
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 150 grams granulated sugar
Streusel
- 80 grams butter softened
- 80 grams granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 50 grams rolled oats *optionally add 30 grams chopped hazelnuts
- 115 grams all purpose flour
Custard
- 4 eggs standard large
- 175 grams granulated sugar
- 28 grams corn starch
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 2 oranges zested
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 700 milliliters whole milk
- 200 milliliters heavy cream
Instructions
Toast the Sugar
- *This step is optional but adds delicious flavor! Alternatively for a richer caramel flavor, caramelize 125 grams of the sugar in a non-stick pan over medium heat until it becomes amber colored. Pour onto a parchment lined baking sheet and allow it to harden. Break it into shards and add it into the milk and heavy cream to allow it to dissolve as they heat up. Whisk the remaining 50 grams of sugar with the corn starch.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven and one two levels down.
- Pour the sugar 125 grams of sugar for the custard into an oven safe pan. Place it in the preheated oven on the middle rack and bake for 1 hour, stirring the sugar every 10 minutes. You want the sugar to become a light brown but not turn into caramel. If you see it start to liquify, stop baking immediately and transfer it to a cold pan.
- While the sugar toasts, you can start on the jam.
- Once baked increase the heat 400 F.
Berry Jam Layer
- In a heavy bottomed pot, pour in the 510 grams of frozen raspberries and 170 grams of frozen blueberries.
- Add in half of the orange zest, all the lemon zest, sugar, and lemon juice. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until thick and jammy.
- Remove from the heat and pour into a large shallow dish and allow it to cool to room temperature while you make the streusel.
Streusel
- In a medium mixing bowl, add in the soft butter, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Use a fork to combine.
- Pour in the oats and optionally the chopped hazelnuts. Stir to combine.
- Finally, pour in the flour and use the fork to rub the flour into the butter mixture.
- Set aside.
Baked Custard
- Boil a full kettle of water while preparing the custard. Set aside once boiling.
- Line a 9" metal round pan with a large sheet of parchment paper that reaches up the sides. An 8" pan will work as well. You can just press the parchment into the pan and crease the paper on the sides so that it lays flat around the edges.
- In a medium, heat safe bowl, whisk together the corn starch, toasted sugar, and salt. Then add in the four eggs, orange zest, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk to combine. Place the bowl on a damp rag to keep it from sliding around.
- Pour the milk and heavy cream in a pot and heat over medium heat, stirring often to keep it from burning. Bring the milk just to a simmer.
- Once just barely bubbling, slowly pour the milk and cream into the egg mixture while whisking the eggs constantly. DO NOT STOP WHISKING until all the milk is added.
- Pour the custard mixture into the lined pan.
- Pour the hot water into an oven safe baking dish and place it on the lower rack in the oven.
- Then, place the pan with the custard in the preheated oven on the middle rack and bake for 25 minutes.
Assemble & Bake
- After 25 minutes, check the custard, it should be just starting to set on top but still wobble. It just needs to be set enough to spoon the cooled jam on top. If not yet, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.
- Remove the cake from the oven but leave the oven on.
- Gently spoon the jam in an even layer on top of the partially set custard.
- Crumble the streusel on top of the jam layer. Make sure not to clump the streusel too much as it will become difficult to cut through once set.
- Place the cake back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. It should still wobble but too much. The streusel will be a little pale but still fully baked. Think of it looking a bit like jello when you wiggle it.
- Take the cake out of the oven once finished baking. Allow it to cool on a wire rack until it comes to room temperature.
- Once cooled place the cake in the fridge to set for a minimum of three hours or overnight.
- Dust with powdered sugar before using the tip of a sharp knife to cut through the streusel and then the remaining layers. Don't worry if a bit of liquid has seeped out of the cake, you can pour it off or absorb it with a paper towel.
Notes
- When making any type of jam it’s important to use a heavy bottomed pot to keep the berries from burning.
- If you’re using fresh berries for the jam, I like to let them sit in the sugar overnight first to macerate but only if you have time, if not, don’t worry about it!
- Make sure to allow the berries to cool enough so they thicken up. I recommend pouring it onto a sheet pan and using a spatula to spread it out and move it around so that it cools off faster.
- While the custard isn’t cooked before baking, the eggs are tempered by pouring hot milk over them. This keeps the eggs from curdling when they hit the hot oven.
- Don’t over bake this cake, start checking the custard after 15 minutes to see if the top is set enough to add the berry jam, it can still be VERY WOBBLY.
- Once baked it’ll be very hard to wait but you have to. Allow the custard to come to room temperature before letting it set for at least 3 hours in the fridge but up to overnight.
- This recipe can be made gluten free by swapping the flour in the streusel with gluten free 1:1 flour.
Nutrition
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I was really hopeful for this cake, but it was disappointing. I followed the recipe to a tee and it came out like the pictures, however the custard part of the cake really lacks flavour.
Hi Amelia, I am so, so sorry to hear that. I hope you enjoyed the other two layers and that the jam gave the burst of flavor you were hoping for. If you choose to make it again I would recommend adding a little vanilla bean paste, the zest of a whole orange and maybe a little extra salt to really give it the flavor you were hoping for. Hope that helps. Best, Audrey
You had me at custard. Everything about this is perfect.
Each layer compliments the other and when eaten together it is a perfect dessert!
I did add nutmeg and lemon zest to the Streusel only because it’s something I always add
and did so without reading.
Thank you so much Lisa!!! I love those additions, they sound amazing!
So good!! Made it twice already
Yay thank you Hannah!
Unfortunately I have to agree with a previous comment, the custard really lacks flavor, despite me adding double the vanilla and orange. I found it added nothing to the recipe. It was disappointing and a pity, as the rest was delicious!
Hi Maya, I’m so sorry to hear that. Glad you enjoyed the rest of it.