Custard Horns

It's been far too long since the last time I have posted something. I've been so busy with university, work, work and more work. Ugh! Yesterday I decided to make custard horns to bring over for my Aunty's birthday - hoorays from everybody :P. She's just come over from Hawaii and isn't staying long, so my big big family has decided to host a party for her. Along with custard horns, I also prepared a birthday jelly cake for her (more on this later). Such a busy day yesterday, as I was frantically trying to bake the puff pastry horns and get some study done in between (you'll see how I had the chance later on :D). 

These custard horns are horns made of flaky puff pastry, filled with creamy creamy custard and dusted off with icing sugar. They are well received by all and their small "bite size" shape will have people on low-sugar/low-fat diets drooling for more haha. With the simplicity of this recipe - anyone will be able to accomplish such a delectable dessert :).

Now, let's get started.

Utensils
- 6 x metal baking horns (if you're baking more, make sure you have more horns otherwise you'll be baking for hours!). You can purchase these online as I have done. I currently only have 6, but have ordered 12 more so I don't spend too much time baking large batches.
- 2 x pastry brushes 

- piping bag/piping syringe

- sieve for sifting icing sugar

Ingredients

- 1 batch of thick custard (I used about 250 mL for about 48 horns. If you're making the custard yourself, make sure to use less sugar - as you will be dusting the horns with icing sugar later on.)

- 3 sheets of puff pastry, thawed

- 1 egg, beaten

- butter for coating the baking horns

- about 3 tablespoons icing sugar

Method

1. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 16 strips.

2. Brush and coat the metal horns with butter (make sure you don't miss a spot! Otherwise the puff pastry will stick to the horns).

 3. Take a strip of puff pastry and wrap it around the horn, starting from the apex. As you can see from the photo below, they don't have to look perfect!! Just make sure you don't leave any "gaps" in wrapping the pastry around the horn.

 4. It's egg wash time! Although this isn't absolutely necessary, it gives the puff pastry a little extra flavour and crisp. Coat all the puff pastry wrapped horns evenly. :)

5. Bake in your oven for about 15 minutes at 220 degrees fan-forced, or until the horns are puffed and golden. The batch below took me quite a long time because I've been working with 6 horns at a time.

6. Fill the horns with custard until your heart's content!... I mean, until the custard horns are full. 

Normally I would be holding the piping syringe in with my left hand and the baked horn with my right, but I had to take these photos myself - so make sure you don't copy exactly what I am doing in the photo below!

Here is my first custard filled horn. 

And proceed to fill every other horn with custard... mmmmm

7. After all your horns have been filled, you are ready to put on the finishing touches to your horns. I have used "icing mixture" instead if icing sugar - I believe it's not as sweet as icing sugar (though I haven't confirmed this yet).

Ta-da! Now you have an awesome crowd please - all my cousins chomped these down like there was no tomorrow, so I didn't end up having any. Make sure to keep 2 or 3 for yourself :P

Many people wonder why I am still "in shape" since I bake so much. Well, although I love baking, what I love more is seeing the looks on people's faces once they have tried my dessert, or seeing how happy/satisfied they are. I give away the desserts I make and rarely eat it for myself, so I guess that's why!


Love,
Bakerella