La Bouille Recipe, Old Fashioned Cajun Custard

La Bouille Recipe (pronounced boo-YEE) is an old-fashioned dessert from South Louisiana. It's a light, creamy, buttery vanilla custard that's quick and easy to make. This Cajun comfort food is served hot or cold, sometimes with cake or in a sweet dough tart.

A square pan with a red trim filled with cake squared and covered with custard.

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La Bouille is a go-to dessert recipe made with simple ingredients by many Cajun cooks. Some recall it as a welcomed after-school sweet treat poured on a moist yellow cake. It's comfort food at its best!

Looking for more classic desserts from the bayou country?

Here's a King Cake Recipe: A Traditional Version. It has the flavors of cinnamon sugar swirled in tender bread dough, baked to perfection, and then iced with sprinkles of purple, green, and gold sugar.

The Louisiana Crunch Cake, A Coconutty Southern Recipe, is a lovely, moist, buttery pound cake with a golden brown sugar coating on the outside. It has drizzles of cane syrup glaze and is topped with crunchy toasted coconut flakes and pecans—the perfect Southern coffee cake!

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Ingredients

The usual ingredients in custard-based desserts are milk, sugar, and a thickener cooked over low heat to achieve the right consistency. These similar bouille ingredients elevate a plain custard to a luxury experience—that's what Cajun cooks are good at!

Evaporated milk - canned milk has about 60% of the water removed from cow's milk, giving it a rich taste and texture.
Whole milk - or 2% milk.
Water - tap or filtered water mixed with the milk for the custard recipe.
Egg yolks - yolks from large eggs work best to thicken and add texture to the
Sugar - just enough sweetness of granulated white sugar.
Corn starch- the perfect thickener for puddings and custards.
Butter - salted butter because it makes everything better, adding taste and a silky smooth sheen.
Vanilla extract - use real vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste instead of imitation vanilla flavoring.

See the recipe card below for specific ingredient quantities and nutrition facts.

Instructions

The creamy, light vanilla custard is so easy to prepare, so don't hesitate to make a batch when you need a quick dessert.

A 4-cup glass measuring cup filled with milk and empty containers beside it.

Pour evaporated milk, whole milk, and water into a large 4-cup measuring cup, heat for 4 minutes on high in the microwave oven, or pour milk into a medium saucepan, then heat over the stove until steaming hot.

A whisk in a large dutch oven pot over a lemon colored whipped egg and sugar mixture.

Place egg yolks in a large Dutch oven or large, heavy pot and scramble with a wire whisk.
Mix sugar in while whisking the egg yolks and stir until the mixture is light yellow and the sugar melts or is no longer grainy.

A whisk in a thick mixture of egg, sugar, and cornstarch in a pot.

Whisk the cornstarch into the egg and sugar mixture; this will be thick.

A glass meaturing cup pouing milk into a pot with a whisk in it.

Combine the egg mixture with the hot milk by pouring a little bit in at a time, slowly blending it in so it doesn't curdle, and cook the egg.

Place the pot on the stove and turn the burner to medium heat; stir and simmer the custard until it thickens, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Turn the stove off and stir in the butter until it melts.

Add the vanilla extract and stir until combined.

A pan of cake with a ladle spooning custard on top next to a pot of la bouille recipe.

Serve hot or cold, sometimes with cake or in a sweet dough tart.

Hint: After the bouille recipe is cooked, place it in a large mixing bowl and cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of the custard before a skin forms.

Storage

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days. Warm the custard up before serving, or serve as is.

Top Tip

Slowly stir the milk into the yolk mixture with a whisk so the consistency will be smooth and with little to no lumps.

Substitutions

Try using canned cream of coconut instead of canned evaporated milk for a non-dairy substitute.
Non-dairy milk, such as almond or coconut, substitutes whole milk.

Variations

La bouille is a simple treat; serve it in a dessert dish with berries, crushed cookies, and/or whipped cream.
Spoon custard over a freshly baked cake or add a piece of cake into the dessert dish filled with bouille.
The custard can be used between the fruit and cake layers in an easy trifle dessert, a British dish.
Use the La Bouille recipe for a creamy filling between chocolate or coconut cake layers.
Add a layer of smashed bananas over a vanilla or butter cake before topping with this delightful custard; it will taste like a banana pudding.

A white square dish with bouille custard, a square of cake, and berries with mint leaves on top.

Equipment

Dutch oven

FAQ

What is bouille?

Bouille is a sweet or savory custard from South Louisiana. It is usually made with eggs, milk, and flour or cornstarch.

What is a bouille It's?

It's a traditional Cajun dessert of a simple homemade sheet cake topped with a delicious egg custard sauce made with sugar, milk, and flour.

What is tarte à La Bouillie?

Tarte à La Bouillie translates to burnt milk. It's a traditional Cajun dessert of vanilla egg custard baked in a pie crust. The sweet dough pie crust turns golden brown, and the custard thickens to a rich, creamy filling.

Looking for other traditional Southern recipes like this La Bouille Recipe? Try these:

Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve or use with la bouille recipe: