Much, probably most, of the custard consumed in England today is not the traditional form made with eggs, but is one of various proprietary brands supplied as powders, usually based on cornflour, to be cooked with milk.


The founder of the most famous brand, Alfred Bird, was born in Digbeth, Birmingham, in 1811, trained as a pharmacist and began his own research business in Bull Street in 1837. It was his love for his wife, Elizabeth Ragg, who was allergic to yeast and eggs, which prompted him to create two of the most important inventions in the whole history of culinary science - baking powder and custard sauce mix. His company's large Birmingham factory building survives as an arts centre called 'The Custard Factory'.