custard

American  

[kuhs-terd] / ˈkʌs tərd /

noun

• custards
  plural

1. a dessert made of eggs, sugar, and milk, either baked, boiled, or frozen.

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custard British  

/ ˈkʌstəd /

noun

1. a baked sweetened mixture of eggs and milk

2. a sauce made of milk and sugar and thickened with cornflour

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• custards
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of custard

1400–50; late Middle English, metathetic variant of earlier crustade kind of pie. See crust, -ade ¹; compare Provençal croustado

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Compare meaning

How does custard compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• custard vs. ice cream

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Explanation

Custard is a sweet, pudding-like dessert that's usually made with eggs. You might prefer frozen custard to ice cream as a summertime treat. Custard comes in a few different forms, including baked, frozen, and boiled. Baked custard is made with a combination of eggs, milk or cream, sugar, and sometimes flavoring, chocolate, or spices, that's cooked in small dishes sitting in a pan of water. The result is smooth, creamy, and rich. In the 14th century, a custard was a "meat or fruit pie," from croustado, an Old Provençal word literally meaning "something covered with crust."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

custard custards

Rayner later said she would raise her prepping game by including some water with her custard, beans and Sauvignon Blanc.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Then I added the tomatoes directly to the custard because I wanted the bread to soak up their sweet-savory juices rather than simply sit alongside them.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026

My alma mater Wisconsin is going to be sponsored by Culver’s, the beloved Midwest restaurant chain with frozen custard that melts like a Badger first-quarter lead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

The atemoya, a hybrid of different custard apple species with creamy white flesh encased in a rough green exterior, is a specialty of Taiwan's Taitung county.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Even Mrs. Callahan, who had never had a very high opinion of Captain Cook, made a lovely frozen custard for him.

From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater

From cakes and pies, “Ready for Dessert” moves on to custards and soufflés; frozen desserts; cookies and candies; and basics, such as sauces, creams, etc.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

Hernandez, who earned her certificate this spring, has already found a job preparing custards and other items for a cafe and caterer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2025

His restaurant experiments with induction burners for recipes that are highly temperature-sensitive, such as custards and caramel.

From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2023

The resulting liquid is then used in lieu of regular milk or buttermilk in recipes for cupcakes, fruit buckle, pancakes, custards and puddings.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2022

He peered through his eyeglasses at the new arrangements of furniture, the decorative gold and red banners, the guestbook, the teacups and egg custards set on a table near his desk.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

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