Vanilla custard

This vanilla custard is so delicious! I use it in cakes, buns and you can also serve it to just fresh berries in the summar. The recipe below is a quite big amount where I have used only half the recipe for filling a cake or buns. But I always make the whole amount and just refrigerate the rest and defrost and use it when I need it.

Ingredients (filling for 2 cakes):

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 7 organic egg yolks
• 5 tbs cornstarch
• 3 1/2 tbs butter (room temperature)

Heat the milk in a saucepan. Take the vanilla bean and place it on a cutting surface. Using the tip of a paring knife and cut the bean lengthwise. Use the point or edge of the knife to scrape the seeds loose from the pod. Add both the seeds and the bean into the milk. After the milk reached boiling point, take it away from the heat and remove the vanilla bean (the seeds should stay).

Mix sugar, egg yolks and cornstarch until it gets white and fluffy. Slowly pour the milk with vanilla over the mixture when you continue to whisking. Then, pour the mixture back into the saucepan and reheat when you are whisking intensively the whole time. You will now start to see and feel that the mixture gets thicker. When you have the right thickness, take the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture over in a cold bowl. Add the butter into the warm mixture and continue to whisk. Whisk until the mixture is soft and smooth. Let the vanilla custard cool down in the refrigerator before using.