Custard: Powdered, canned or from scratch – Do they all taste the same?

Today’s cooking experiment involved three different forms of custard. Powdered, canned and from scratch. I must say, I am intrigued by all the different forms of custard that are on the market. There are powdered and canned forms available (and several brands of each kind I may add). Why even bother making it from scratch when you have all these options available?

For this experiment, I tested two types of powdered custards (Bird’s and Horne’s), two types of canned custards (Irresistible’s and President’s Choice brands) as well as one that was made from scratch.

We presented the 5 different types of custard, in no particular order, for the taste testers to sample along with fresh strawberries.

Here are the 5 custards that were tested:
Horne’s Custard Powder (powdered)
Bird’s Instant Custard (powdered)
President’s Choice – Devon Custard (canned)
Irresistible’s – English Devon Style Custard (canned)
Homemade Custard – made from scratch

My theory:
I’m hoping that the powdered custard will taste just as good as the home made custard. I don’t think the canned custards will fair as well because I think they might have a processed/metallic taste because of their packaging.

Taste testers:
Please sample each of the custards and comment on the appearance, texture and flavour. Which one is your favourite?

The Reveal:
Thank you everyone for submitting your comments. Here are the results:
A: Irresistibles – English Devon Style Custard (3 people’s favourite)
B: Homemade Custard (4 people’s favourite)
C: Horne’s Custard Powder
D: President’s Choice – Devon Custard (3 people’s favourite)
E: Bird’s Instant Custard

My Thoughts:
I was secretly hoping that either the powdered or canned custards would come out on top. Out of all the custards tasted, none of them came out as the obvious winner. All of the custards are quite muted in flavour and although there are differences in thickness and color, none of the samples really stood apart from the rest.

The Bottom Line:
It is so nice to realize that there are places in the kitchen where you can take shortcuts! Because the flavour/texture of custard is already quite subtle to begin with, any flavour differences would be lost once the custard is paired along side other things like crumbles, pie, cakes or trifles. There was a slight preference for the taste of the home made custard but people didn’t like the lumpy texture. Tip: Make sure that you have the plastic wrap touch the surface of the custard when you store it to prevent a skin from forming on top.

In this case, it’s actually worth choosing a powdered or canned custard. You’ll save a lot of time especially custard is generally not the focal point but is served alongside things. However, baked custards are another story. Things like flans, creme caramel and creme brulee are probably best made from scratch and are worth the legwork.

Of all the samples tasted, I would personally choose the Bird’s instant custard because it was so easy to make (you literally just add water)! However, there was an individual who was really put off by the color because it is very orange in appearance. However, I liked this custard from a texture (smooth) and ease of preparation factor. The flavour was mediocre, but so were the other custards.

12 thoughts on “Custard: Powdered, canned or from scratch – Do they all taste the same?

  1. Ok Here are my guess

    A- it was a dark ivory colour and creamy looking so I'm going to guess that it's Horne's custard powder
    B- Homemade
    C- it was slightly yellow and more custardy looking. So therefore I think it's PC Canned custard
    D- a very smooth and creamy light ivory colour custard. I think it was Bird's instant
    E- Which leaves me with Irresistables – English Devon Style Custard. It was really yellow. Looked a lot like egg yolks.

  2. First off, I don't really know what custard is SUPPOSED to taste like…but here is my opinion.

    A: runny, weird taste

    B: thick, homemade? – I like this one best

    C: thick, 2nd favourite taste-wise

    D: runny

    E: runny, very yellow – looks unnatural, tinie taste – not good

    The thicker ones look more appetizing.

  3. A: homemade? My #1 pick
    Appearance: creamy and nice colour
    Texture: smooth and thick; appealing texture
    Flavour: mild, milky, slight vanilla

    B
    Appearance: globby and a little lumpy, not appealing to me
    Texture: thick, unappealing lumps almost like starch that wasn’t totally dissolved
    Flavour: mellow, tasted a bit like rice pudding,

    C powdered? – yuk
    Appearance: very thick, eggy colour which I find artificial looking
    Texture: thick, pasty
    Flavour: tastes powdery and starchy

    D
    Appearance: nice smooth shiny and creamy colour
    Texture: smoothest and creamiest, number 1 in texture
    Flavour: powdery, tastes like it was made from a mix; slight coconut flavour

    E
    Appearance: orangey and artificial looking
    Texture: too goopy and sticky
    Flavour: very artificial

  4. Custard A: Appearance
    • Looks butter-scotchy
    • Creamy
    • Appealing colour
    Custard A: Texture
    • Very smooth but not creamy
    Custard A: Flavour
    • I was expecting a really good mouth-feel, based on the look of it but I was disappointed with the taste – tasted light for a custard

    Custard B: Appearance
    • Looks clumpy
    • Looks low-fat, light
    Custard B: Texture
    • clumpy
    Custard B: Flavour
    • tastes better than Custard A but it tastes as though it was made with skim milk – I think this is the home-made one, which would have tasted better had it been made with whole milk

    Custard C: Appearance
    • Colour is too yellow, which makes it look fake
    Custard C: Texture
    • Tastes powdery and artificial
    Custard C: Flavour
    • Tasted processed – I didn’t like this one, at all
    Custard D: Appearance
    • Colour is very appealing – looks creamy
    Custard D: Texture
    • Very smooth
    • Fairly good mouth-feel
    Custard D: Flavour
    • Of all the custards, liked this one the best
    • Tastes like evaporated milk is an ingredient in this custard, which I like

  5. A: Thinner consistency but smooth texture. Color is beige. Thin flavour, tastes like tapioca.

    Not a very strong flavour of vanilla.
    B:Thick, lumpy consistency. Like the color the most but the texture the least. Lumpy and is the sweetest of all of the samples. I don't like the texture because of the lumps. However, I can taste the vanilla in this one.
    C: Interesting color in that it's bright orange. Thick consistency. Looks gummy. Thick and gummy. Tastes very bland. I like this one the least.
    D: Thinner consistency but nice, smooth texture. Color is light beige. Again, thin texture

    with slight aftertaste. Not very sweet but not very flavourful either.
    E: Bright orange color, not too keen on the color but I like this texture/consistency the

    most. It is smooth and free from lumps. However, it is very gummy and has a very strong flavour.

    I don't really like any of them in particular. I don't tink custard tastes very good on it's own to be honest. And when mixed in with stuff, there are other flavours involved. So in my personal opinion – any of them would fine.

  6. Hi Custard lovers!

    I like B, A and D the best.

    I believe that B was the one made from scratch and A and D were the canned type. They looked the smoothest and had a lighter colour than the two I think were made from powder E and C. E had a chemically taste to it.

  7. Custard A: Appearance
    • Looks butter-scotchy
    • creamy
    • Appealing colour
    Custard A: Texture
    • Very smooth but not creamy
    Custard A: Flavour
    • I was expecting a really good mouth-feel, based on the look of it but I was disappointed with the taste – tasted light for a custard

    Custard B: Appearance
    • Looks clumpy
    • Looks low-fat, light
    Custard B: Texture
    • clumpy
    Custard B: Flavour
    • tastes better than Custard A but it tastes as though it was made with skim milk – I think this is the home-made one, which would have tasted better had it been made with whole milk

    Custard C: Appearance
    • Colour is too yellow, which makes it look fake
    Custard C: Texture
    • Tastes powdery and artificial
    Custard C: Flavour
    • Tasted processed – I didn’t like this one, at all
    Custard D: Appearance
    • Colour is very appealing – looks creamy
    Custard D: Texture
    • Very smooth
    • Fairly good mouth-feel
    Custard D: Flavour
    • Of all the custards, liked this one the best
    • Tastes like evaporated milk is an ingredient in this custard, which I like
    Custard E: Appearance
    • Yellow appearance not very appealing
    Custard E: Texture
    • Gummy
    Custard E: Flavour
    • Didn’t like the taste – taste chemically

  8. A: colour okay, looks runny, kind of chemical taste LEAST FAVOURITE
    B: too white, firm texture, light flavour FAVOURITE
    C: nice colour, firm texture, light flavour #2
    D: colour okay, looks runny, light flavour
    E: colour quite yellow, looks runny, okay but powdery taste

  9. E was awful. Artifical colour, chemical/powdery taste. Hornes??
    D and A canned custard. D presidents choice. A irresistible–My favourite for texture and taste
    C- Birds custard – too thick and a little powdery
    B – Homemade has the best flavour but the texture is not smooth it's either lumps or the custard skin

    Thanks Lisa

  10. This was pretty hard!

    I took a huge guess at the brands.

    A: skin coloured! not appetizing looking. shiny/glossy, very artificial taste, taste terrible – canned Irresistable?
    B: pale colour, matte, thicker, milky taste tastes homemade…lumps… maybe not mixed well 🙂 I like the mild taste of this one.
    C: yellow colour, matte, thicker, I like the taste of this one – mild, powdered Hornes?
    D: pale colour, shiny/glossy, smooth/thin, mild taste but still a bit artificial – canned PC?
    E: yellow artificial colour, shiny/glossy, thicker than A and D but not as thick as B and C. Don’t like the taste of this one much. Bird’s instant powder?

  11. Custard A:
    Sticky, and I'm pretty sure it came from a can, has got a metallic taste. Not my favourite. The flavour is too artificial.

    Custard D: creamier than A, better taste, more authentic, eggy and milky.

    Custard E: Not a fan. Colour looks fake, and I think this might have been a powder, b/c it's not a smooth consistency.

    Custard B: the colour and taste are decent, but it's lumpy, which isn't appealing. If it was smooth, this would remind me of the custard that was in the french fruit pastry I had in Montreal! yum.

    Custard C: Not very smooth or tasty.. not my favourite.

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