DEFINITION: Custard

Custard is a culinary preparation made by blending eggs with milk or cream. Custard is thickened by the coagulation of the egg proteins, which is achieved by gently heating the custard in some way.

Custard is mainly used as a dessert, or as a base for a dessert, or as a dessert sauce.

Custard can be cooked in a bain-marie in the oven, or on the stovetop. Cooking custard in a bain-marie helps keep the cooking air moist and heats gently so that the custard doesn't curdle or crack.

A custard can have various consistencies, from thick and firm, as in creme brulee, to nearly liquid, as in creme anglaise. Pastry cream, or creme patissiere, which is used as a filling for classic desserts like cream puffs and éclairs, is made by adding some sort of starch, such as flour, to the custard.

Custard is usually sweet, but it can also be savory. Quiche is an example of a savory custard.

More here...
http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Custard.htm

Frozen Custard

Apparatus:

2 Medium mixing bowls
Whisk
Small saucepan
Strainer
Ice cream freezer
Glass or plastic freezable containers
Plastic wrap

Components:

8 egg yolks
1/2 cup of cane sugar (half white, half crystallized cane juice)
2 cups organic whipping cream
1 vanilla bean (scraped, discard husk)
Ice (to half fill mixing bowl)
1/2 tsp. bourbon vanilla
1/2 tsp. Mexican vanilla

Procedure:

1. Place ice and water in a mixing bowl.
2. Combine egg yolks with sugar in a second mixing bowl.
3. Whisk thoroughly.
4. Heat whipping cream in a small saucepan until it begins to boil (175 F).
5. Remove cream from heat.
5. Add vanilla bean seeds.
6. Whisk a small amount of the hot cream to the eggs (trying to not scramble the eggs). This will temper the eggs and help pasteurize the eggs.
7. Whisk eggs into saucepan
8. Place saucepan in the ice water bowl, whisking until cold (40 F).
9. Strain to remove any cooked egg, large bits of vanilla, or undissolved sugar.
10. Mix in the bourbon vanilla and the Mexican vanilla
11. Put custard in ice cream freezer (follow directions for your brand).
12. Quickly remove custard to containers (smaller ones freeze faster).
13. Cover with plastic wrap (pressing the plastic to the surface of the custard to eliminate air contact with the surface of the custard).
14. Store in freezer.

Adapted from:
http://www.alcoholian.com/?p=757

What is Frozen Custard?

I saw an article on Frozen Custard on Florissant Patch.

It seems that before we had ice cream, there was frozen custard. It is similar to ice cream but it uses egg yolk in the recipe (that caught my eye).

Frozen custard has the same minimum 10 percent milk fat requirement as ice cream with the addition of at least 1.4 percent egg yolks.

Frozen custard is, apparently, creamier and softer than ice cream. That's something I'll have to check out. Chocolate frozen custard sounds really good.