Berry Custard Cake

4.43 from 7 votes

Soft baked custard, mixed berry jam, and a buttery oat streusel, this berry custard cake is creamy, tart, sweet and a little crunchy.

Prep Time1 30

Cook Time35

Cooling6

Total Time8 5

Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Dessert

Cuisine: American, German

Keyword: custard, jam, raspberries, Streusel

Servings:

Calories: 387kcal

*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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.