We’ve already had a recipe for the cream puff choux pastry (where I wrote about my grandmother’s long-standing fondness for them) and another one for chocolate eclairs. Here’s a more detailed cream puff recipe, which also includes instructions for the custard filling.
The custard filling relies on the use of custard powder (or ‘custard flour’ as written below). Cornflour-based custard powder was invented in 1837 by Alfred Bird because his wife was allergic to eggs and couldn’t tolerate real custard. Till today, Bird’s brand is perhaps the most popular brand of custard powder in Britain. Besides cornflour, the ingredients in custard powder include salt, flavorings, and annatto or tartrazine coloring.
Do note that both annatto and tartrazine have been known to cause common food reactions. Tartrazine has been in the press recently as one of the substances identified in a recent British study on food additives that can cause hyperactivity in children, while annatto is the only natural food colouring “found to cause as many adverse intolerance reactions as artificial colours and to affect more consumers that artificial colour” (read here). But it’s only very recent scientific research that has revealed these problems.
In the recipe, grandmother specifically noted that Brown & Polson brand of custard powder should be used. This is still available today in India from Unilever Food Solutions Asia (who do Knorr, Lipton, Planta etc. in Singapore, but no Brown & Polson!).
Brown & Polson Custard Powder appears to have a very long history, going by this recipe for savoury custard in the The Cook’s Guide and Housekeeper’s & Butler’s Assistant (1861) by Charles Elme Francatelli. Do click on the links to see a digitised version of the original book.
An internet search shows many secondhand and antiquarian book dealers selling a cookbook produced by Brown & Polson entitled, Light Fare Recipes for Corn Flour and Custard Powder Cookery, circa 1930. As I noted earlier, food manufacturers often produced cookbooks as a way of advertising new products and educating consumers how to use them – do have a look at this fascinating digitised archive of Advertising Cookbooks, 1878-1929.
The instructions call for the custard filling to be flavoured with ‘essence’ – I believe this refers to vanilla essence.
Just received this message from Jane Hersey of the Feingold Association http://www.feingold.org/:
“I’m happy to tell you that you do not need to rely on tartrazine (Yellow No. 5 in the US) for cream puff recipes.
There are several companies that make natural food colorings; check out http://www.squirrels-nest.com, a candy shop in the US that provides a great deal of different natural alternatives for eating and baking.
PS Dyes like tartrazine are derived from petroleum!”
I’ve just had a look at the Squirrel’s Nest yellow powder food colouring and it is turmeric.
One would still have to come up with something that replaces the custard powder-based filling. I would suggest finding an alternative filling — what about real custard? — and there’s really no need for any additional colouring to make it look like ‘custard’.
I don’t understand the ingredient B P. I normally use that abbrevation for baking powder but that doesn’t seem right in this situation
Thank You
Dear Jim,
As far as I can tell, my grandmother used “B.P.” for baking powder. I’m not sure what else it might mean and I’m not an expert on choux pastry to know if it’s ever used in choux.
Best wishes.