Creme Brulee
Jul. 27th, 2009 01:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foolish_m0rtalDon't let them fool you- this recipe is very easy to make and quite delicious!
Creme brulee is actually supposed to be cooked in a ceramic bowl called a ramekin, but I've found they work just as well with cupcake paper in muffin trays. (Okay, so in the above picture I didn't have any cupcake paper and just made some by hand out of raw wax paper, but hey) If you have the cupcake paper with both the paper and metal lining, reverse them so the paper is on the outside and the metal is on the inside.
This is just a basic recipe and is meant to be multiplied.
1 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
muffin/cupcake trays
Oven: Preheated to 325.
1) Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture is slightly light brown and all the sugar is dissolved.
2) In a saucepan, stir together the cream and vanilla on medium heat until small bubbles start forming around the edges of the cream. Don't leave the mixture sitting still for too long, because a skin will form on top of the cream, and you do NOT want this. The whole point of creme brulee is the smooth texture.
3) Stir the cream mixture with the egg mixture by hand till well blended. Run this mixture through a strainer to make sure you've eliminated any small pieces you might have got from undissolved sugar or from leaving the cream standing for too long.
4) You should have the cupcake paper in the trays. Pour in the mixture till almost full.
5) Vaguely tricky part. The custards aren't cooked directly, but inside something called a marie bain. This means you have to put the muffin tray in a bigger dish and fill this bigger dish with water till it comes at least halfway up the sides of the muffin tray. The custards will cook in this water. Usually, I just stick the whole thing in the oven first and then use a teapot to fill the big dish with water.
6) Cook custards for 35-40 minutes or until they pass the famous jiggle test. For this test, shake the muffin tray. (don't burn yourself with the godamn marie bain!) The custards are done when they are firm on the edges but the middle still wiggles like jello. They should be a very delicate light beige.
7) Stick your custards in the refridgerator for about an hour/when they become cold.
What do we do with custards? We BURN THEM!
Burning is a misconception. You want the sugar light brown and caramelised. Any more and it tastes bitter. There are a few different ways to do this. If you're using the cupcake paper, either cut away the top trip or just stick to broiling. The top dogs use ramekins because they withstand the heat better.
Just a note on sugar: don't put too liberal of a layer, because when it caramelises it will be too thick. Ideally, the sugar should be thin enough to shatter when hit with the back of a spoon.
The non flame way is to sprinkle sugar in a layer on top of the custard and broil it for a few minutes till the sugar caramelises. Then wait till the top cools into a shell. With this method, both the custard and the topping are hot.
Method two is to use a kitchen torch (or what have you. The Cooking for Engineers website recommended a welding torch) to lightly flame a room-temperature custard till light brown. (remember, smother the fire. Smother. If you're making a large custard, don't blow it out like an idiot. This is no one's birthday)
Method three is my favourite and is called Catalan creme brulee. With this one, the custard is served cold with a hot layer on top. This version of custard traditionally has lemon zest in it. I've tried this and liked it more than the original! For this recipe, just add 3 teaspoons of lemon concentrate (or squeeze half a lemon) into the basic batter.
8) Enjoy your creme brulee and flip the bird at those wankers that say you need to use a ramekin.
Creme brulee is actually supposed to be cooked in a ceramic bowl called a ramekin, but I've found they work just as well with cupcake paper in muffin trays. (Okay, so in the above picture I didn't have any cupcake paper and just made some by hand out of raw wax paper, but hey) If you have the cupcake paper with both the paper and metal lining, reverse them so the paper is on the outside and the metal is on the inside.
This is just a basic recipe and is meant to be multiplied.
1 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
muffin/cupcake trays
Oven: Preheated to 325.
1) Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture is slightly light brown and all the sugar is dissolved.
2) In a saucepan, stir together the cream and vanilla on medium heat until small bubbles start forming around the edges of the cream. Don't leave the mixture sitting still for too long, because a skin will form on top of the cream, and you do NOT want this. The whole point of creme brulee is the smooth texture.
3) Stir the cream mixture with the egg mixture by hand till well blended. Run this mixture through a strainer to make sure you've eliminated any small pieces you might have got from undissolved sugar or from leaving the cream standing for too long.
4) You should have the cupcake paper in the trays. Pour in the mixture till almost full.
5) Vaguely tricky part. The custards aren't cooked directly, but inside something called a marie bain. This means you have to put the muffin tray in a bigger dish and fill this bigger dish with water till it comes at least halfway up the sides of the muffin tray. The custards will cook in this water. Usually, I just stick the whole thing in the oven first and then use a teapot to fill the big dish with water.
6) Cook custards for 35-40 minutes or until they pass the famous jiggle test. For this test, shake the muffin tray. (don't burn yourself with the godamn marie bain!) The custards are done when they are firm on the edges but the middle still wiggles like jello. They should be a very delicate light beige.
7) Stick your custards in the refridgerator for about an hour/when they become cold.
What do we do with custards? We BURN THEM!
Burning is a misconception. You want the sugar light brown and caramelised. Any more and it tastes bitter. There are a few different ways to do this. If you're using the cupcake paper, either cut away the top trip or just stick to broiling. The top dogs use ramekins because they withstand the heat better.
Just a note on sugar: don't put too liberal of a layer, because when it caramelises it will be too thick. Ideally, the sugar should be thin enough to shatter when hit with the back of a spoon.
The non flame way is to sprinkle sugar in a layer on top of the custard and broil it for a few minutes till the sugar caramelises. Then wait till the top cools into a shell. With this method, both the custard and the topping are hot.
Method two is to use a kitchen torch (or what have you. The Cooking for Engineers website recommended a welding torch) to lightly flame a room-temperature custard till light brown. (remember, smother the fire. Smother. If you're making a large custard, don't blow it out like an idiot. This is no one's birthday)
Method three is my favourite and is called Catalan creme brulee. With this one, the custard is served cold with a hot layer on top. This version of custard traditionally has lemon zest in it. I've tried this and liked it more than the original! For this recipe, just add 3 teaspoons of lemon concentrate (or squeeze half a lemon) into the basic batter.
8) Enjoy your creme brulee and flip the bird at those wankers that say you need to use a ramekin.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 02:17 am (UTC)Oh, I baked one of those French flourless chocolate cakes you get at hot cakes.I'm actually icing it with whipped cream because the cake itself looks ugly as sin. Tastes pretty good, though. It's not for me, it's for someone else.
I used the rest of the eggs and butter to make butter lace cookies. Yay, I have like four new recipe posts I can write about now!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 11:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-27 09:44 pm (UTC)Oh, seems I took back that volume of Kitchen Princess so I don't have the flan recipe from there, but I found this site...
http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Desserts/Custards-and-Puddings/Flan/ViewAll.aspx
Hope it helps!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 01:40 am (UTC)