Recipe: Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum: A Guest Post by Susan Mallery
I’m on maternity leave! During this time, a few of my favorite authors offered to step up and write guest posts so that this blog would remain active while I adjust to my new role as a mother. I may also be a bit slower to respond. Thanks for understanding and for being so supportive of me, my family, and my blog. Want to donate a few dollars to keep this blog running or perhaps contribute to my diaper fund? You can do so on Venmo or Paypal.
Recipe: Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum: A Guest Post by Susan Mallery
In my first book of 2023, The Sister Effect, Sloane McGowan has gone through some hard times, but she’s getting herself together one painful step at a time. She’s determined to regain custody of her beloved daughter, who’s being raised by Sloane’s perfect sister, Finley. Finley, who never messed up the way Sloane has. Finley, who never did anything that she has to apologize for over and over again, because no apology is ever enough.
Recipe: Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum: A Guest Post by Susan Mallery
I’m writing this post in July 2022, and I want to get it to Ashley long before she goes on maternity leave. So no cover for The Sister Effect yet. And no official blurb yet, either, but here’s a draft we’re playing with. By the time this post goes live, the official blurb will be available on the Coming Soon page at www.susanmallery.com and wherever you like to shop for books, so you can compare this to the final to see how much it changed. A peek behind the curtain.
Finley McGowan is determined that the niece she’s raising will always feel loved and wanted. Unlike she felt after her mom left to pursue a dream of stardom and her grandfather abandoned her and her sister Sloane when they needed him most. Finley reacted to her chaotic childhood by walking the straight and narrow—nose down, work hard, follow the rules.
Sloane went the other way.
Now Sloane is back, as beautiful and damaged as ever, and wants a relationship with her daughter. She says she’s changed, but Finley’s heart has been bruised once too often for her to trust easily. With the help of a man who knows all too well how messy families can be, Finley will learn there’s joy in surrendering and peace in letting go.
Mallery, with wisdom, compassion and her trademark humor, explores the nuances of a broken family’s complex emotions as they strive to become whole, in this uplifting story of human frailty and resilience.
As part of getting herself together, Sloane’s working at Life’s a Yolk, a breakfast restaurant with a decadent specialty: Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum, which is described as a cross between French toast and bread pudding. This dish was entirely fictional while I was writing The Sister Effect, but now exists because I wanted to include a recipe with the book club discussion guide. It turned out to be even more delicious than I imagined!
Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum
Make the Yum-Yum and custard sauce the day before your book club meeting.
1 loaf brioche or other buttery, soft bread
½ tsp sea salt
4 whole eggs + 6 yolks, divided
4 cups milk, divided
7 cinnamon sticks, divided
¾ cup sugar, divided
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp maple syrup, divided
1 Tbsp butter
Cinnamon for sprinkling
Recipe: Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum: A Guest Post by Susan Mallery
This recipe has two parts, essentially bread pudding with custard sauce.
Bread pudding:
Cut the bread into ½-inch pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle over with sea salt and stir gently.
On the stove, heat 2 cups of milk, ½ cup of sugar, 2 Tbsp maple syrup and 4 cinnamon sticks to 180 degrees, so it’s hot but not boiling. Stir frequently. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes. Discard cinnamon sticks.
Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan with 1 Tbsp butter. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 4 whole eggs plus 2 yolks until pale yellow. While continuing to whisk constantly, add about half a cup of the milk mixture in a slow, steady stream. Continue adding milk in increments, whisking constantly. When it’s all combined, pour over the bread and stir well.
Put the bread mixture into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Place the baking pan in a larger pan and add water between the two pans, about halfway up. This water bath will prevent the bread pudding from overcooking on the edges. Bake until the interior temperature reaches 170 degrees, about 40 minutes.
Remove baking pan from the larger pan and place on a wire rack to cool. After it’s cool, cover and refrigerate.
Custard sauce:
Heat 2 cups of milk, ¼ cup of maple syrup and 3 cinnamon sticks on the stove to 180 degrees, so it’s hot but not boiling. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Heat about 1 inch of water to a simmer in a pan that’s slightly smaller at the rim than the bowl you’ll be using in the next step.
In a medium stainless steel bowl, whisk 4 egg yolks with ¼ cup sugar until pale yellow. While whisking constantly, add the milk mixture to the eggs in a slow stream. Balance this bowl over the pan of simmering water, so the egg mixture is being heated by the steam but the bowl is not touching the boiling water. Stir constantly until the mixture reaches 170-175 degrees. Don’t let it reach 180, or it might curdle.
Immediately place the bowl into an ice bath and stir occasionally until it’s cool. Refrigerate.
To serve, warm the bread pudding and top with chilled custard sauce.
Recipe: Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum: A Guest Post by Susan Mallery
Recipe: Cinnamon Custard Yum-Yum: A Guest Post by Susan Mallery
