How to Make Nostalgic School Pink Custard

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Remember classic pink custard from school? Want to know how you can recreate this nostalgic treat at home? Well you absolutely can, with this easy peasy pink custard recipe! Using a staple pink blancmange mix for the base, this delightful dessert sauce tastes exactly how you remember it! Keep reading for the easy recipe, FAQs, and lots of tips to help you relive your school days…

Pink custard being poured onto jam coconut sponge

Why you’ll love this recipe

You remember it too don’t you? Walking into the school dinner hall, anticipating what the dinner ladies had made for you that day? And one of the BEST feelings was when you realised it was school cake and pink custard!

I really love retro school dinners. My absolute favourite school dinner dessert was butterscotch tart. But cornflake tart and pretty much any sponge cake and custard were always winners too.

If you feel the same, keep scrolling to learn how to make custard that really does taste EXACTLY how you remember it! It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make too. Plus… no lumps! (You remember those too right?! Haha!)

Pink custard in a saucepan with a spoon resting over it

What is pink custard?

Pink custard is a school dinner classic that was typically served with a traybake cake, like jam coconut sponge. It’s just like regular custard, only strawberry flavour and pink.

How is pink custard made?

Old school pink custard is made by making a paste with sugar, a little milk, and strawberry blancmange powder. You then heat the remaining milk, before mixing the two together, and stirring frequently over heat until it thickens. No need for egg yolks and cornflour like a traditional custard recipe.

Ingredients

Confused about what ingredients to buy? Not sure about a substitution? Here’s everything you might need to know…

Blancmange powder – Although it’s becoming less commonly available, I still managed to find this at Morrisons, Ocado and Amazon. So you can definitely still buy it from a fair few places! You could use the raspberry flavour if you wish, but strawberry is the traditional school flavour.
Sugar – I use caster sugar to sweeten the custard. The amount is personal preference though. So you can add more or less if you prefer.
Milk – Whole milk is what they used in schools, so that’s what I used too. If you prefer, you can substitute for semi skimmed milk. It will still work just fine.

A plate with coconut jam cake and pink custard on it

Emma’s top tips

Here are tips you’ll find helpful when making old school pink custard.

Keep the heat low. Both when heating the milk, AND when thickening the custard. Milk can boil and burn easily, and custard can catch on the bottom and burn easily too. Take your time and it will all work out great!
When I say ‘stir continuously’ I mean it. Don’t wander off and make a cup of tea or hang out the washing! Otherwise you will end up with custard that has burnt lumpy bits running through it.
When stirring, make sure you get right into the edges of the pan to avoid burning.
Don’t make this custard ahead of time. Once made, if you leave it out or put it in the fridge, it will begin setting and turn into blancmange.

Milk in a saucepan and blancmange powder in a pot

Timings

Have limited time? Struggle with recipe timings? Or juggling around other things? Here’s some time managing info to make your life easier!

It should take no more than 15 minutes in total to make pink custard from start to finish.
Make this just before serving, not ahead of time.
Allow enough time so you can focus 100% on making this. It can catch and burn pretty easily if you’re not paying close attention.

School Pink Custard – Step by Step Picture Recipe

(For a printer friendly version, see the recipe card at the end of this post)

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make about 600ml (serves 4).

1 x 35g Sachet Strawberry Blancmange Powder
2 tbsp Caster Sugar
568ml (2 + 1/4 Cups) Full Fat Milk *

*You may need extra to think it down if it gets too thick

Essential equipment

Mixing Bowl
Wooden Spoon
Large Saucepan

Instructions

Add the strawberry blancmange powder (1 x 35g sachet) to a mixing bowl, along with the sugar (2 tbsp) and 2 tbsp of the milk. Stir well, it should form a paste. (Don’t worry if yours is a little thin, it will still work.)

Meanwhile, add the remaining milk to a large saucepan and place over a low heat. Keep a close eye on this, as you don’t want it to boil.

Next, pour a little of the hot milk over the pink paste and stir thoroughly, until everything has dissolved.

Hot milk being poured over strawberry blancmange paste

Hot milk being stirred into strawberry blancmange paste

Then pour the pink mixture into the pan with the hot milk, and stir it through.

Blancmange paste being poured into hot milk in a saucepan

At this point, you need to stir continuously. And make sure you get right into the edges of the pan, to ensure nothing catches and burns.

Pink custard being stirred in a saucepan

When the mixture starts to thicken, increase the speed you’re stirring slightly. Still making sure you’re getting right into the edges. Remove from the heat when you’re happy with the consistency.

If it’s gone a little too far for your liking, just add a little more milk and stir it through to thin it out.

Thick school pink custard in a saucepan with a spoon

Can you store leftover pink custard?

No, you can’t store leftover pink custard. If you tried to do this, it would need to be refrigerated. And if you refrigerate pink custard, it will set and turn into blancmange. Ideally it needs to be eaten freshly made.

Pink custard being poured over coconut jam cake

FAQs

How to turn custard pink

Of course, you could add pink food colouring to regular custard, but it wouldn’t be the same as the pink custard they serve in schools. The best way to recreate it is using strawberry or raspberry blancmange powder, as per this recipe.

Is pink custard strawberry flavour?

Yes! Original school pink custard used strawberry blancmange powder as the base. This imparts a slight strawberry flavour, which is why it tastes different to regular vanilla custard.

Can you buy pink custard?

Yes and no. You can’t buy the stuff you remember from your school days, but (at the time of writing this article) Ambrosia do make strawberry flavour Devon custard, which is similar. And it’s currently sold in most major supermarkets.

Where to buy pink custard powder?

Pink custard powder doesn’t actually exist. It’s strawberry blancmange powder that’s used to create the pink colour and strawberry flavour. I’ve recently been able to find them at Morrisons, Ocado and Amazon. But they have been removed from Tesco and Asda shelves, so you might want to stock up if you plan on making pink custard regularly.

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Pink custard being poured over jam coconut sponge cake. A text overlay says 'easy peasy pink custard'