Sen the most commonly made sauce at home is a strong cheese one to go with brassica or leeks and I'd not swap that for cream!

I can prefer the Birds custard powder to a tin especially for a fruit crumble or a syrup sponge (can't remember the last time Pip made one - I should learn...) but mostly opt for the tinned stuff, often through laziness, though I'd prefer the latter with a fruit salad.

I microwave the powder these days and cocked it up last time. It was so thick that a builders trowel would have been a better tool than a spoon to eat it with. Sill it's better than what can happen with the saucepan method if you are careless (or perhaps use a cheap thin tinny pan). The slightest bit of burn and the whole pan full is ruined.

As for cream and custard, I like that but would do it differently. I'd rather put the pot/jug out and pour (or let others pour) a bit of cream on top of the custard and, personally would have more "creamier" mouthfuls and more "custardy" mouthfuls.