Apricot Custard

I am trying something new that sounded really yummy, but I am having issues with it cooking.  Of course, the recipe was written for a slow cooker, so I should have assumed it would take just about as long to cook in the oven as in the slow cooker.  It's finally done, so here's the recipe.  I was looking through a cookbook that I got with my Christmas Barnes & Noble gift card: 1001 Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender, and looked at the custard recipes in the dessert section.  I was looking for a GF recipe since my uncle has a gluten allergy.  There was an Apricot Custard recipe that looked fabulous (and I actually had all the ingredients!), but it was to be made in the slow cooker.  Problem is, I don't have a proper baking dish that fits in my slow cooker, so I had to improvise.  I used a glass mixing bowl in the oven instead.  It's a good thing I have patience if I am busy doing other things because I had no idea how long it was going to take to bake the custard.  Here's how it all worked out.

Apricot Almond Custard
Adapted from: 1001 Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpenter, page 543.

• 1/2 cup Apricot All-Fruit
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 cups 1% milk
• 1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• pinch salt

Whisk together the preserves, lemon juice and 2 tsp sugar.  Spread over the bottom of a 6 cup glass casserole dish you've prayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.

Whisk together the milk, evaporated milk, eggs, 2/3 cup sugar, almond extract and salt.  Pour into the prepared casserole dish gently so as not to mix in the apricot mixture.

Place the casserole dish in a roasting dish.  Pour hot water around casserole to within 1 inch of the rim.  Bake for 3 hours at 300F.  When time is up, remove casserole from oven and cool.  Once cooled enough, place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

P.S. I hope this tastes as good as it looks!