Ingredients
- 1 blind-baked 9-inch sweet pastry shell
- 150 ml pure Quebec maple syrup (amber, rich taste)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 large eggs
- 350 ml whole milk
- 100 ml heavy cream (35 %)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of nutmeg
Method
- Preheat oven to 150 °C (300 °F). Whisk yolks and whole eggs together, then stir in maple syrup.
- Heat milk and cream together until steaming (do not boil). Gradually whisk into the egg-maple mixture. Stir in vanilla.
- Strain custard through a fine sieve. Pour into the blind-baked shell. Dust lightly with nutmeg.
- Bake 40–45 min at 150 °C until custard is barely set with a gentle wobble at centre. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate 1 hour before slicing.
Conversion and rationale
Original sweetener (classic version): 120 g granulated sugar
Conversion used: Replace 120 g sugar with 150 ml amber maple syrup. Reduce milk by 30 ml to offset extra liquid. Lower oven from 165 °C to 150 °C to protect delicate custard from over-colouring due to maple's caramelising sugars.
Why Quebec maple syrup: Maple syrup produces a silkier custard with a golden hue and layered flavour — no vanilla-sugar combination matches its natural complexity — while cutting out refined sugar entirely.
General rule: 1 cup (250 ml) sugar ≈ 3/4 cup (180 ml) maple syrup; reduce liquids by 45–60 ml per cup of syrup and lower oven by 15 °C. Substitution calculator →