Creme Brulee
So I'm learning French on Duolingo...
And I'm very happy to report that I have a 38 day streak and I can usually understand the sentences and phrases and the stories are funny. Would definitely recommend doing the stories on Duolingo.
Anyway, I had a hankering to make creme brulee the other day. So I did. The flavor was good but I made some mistakes with the cooking time. Learn from my mistakes.
I used this recipe from From a Chef's Kitchen, mostly because it was one of the only recipes that I saw that used three egg yolks. See, I had three egg yolks left over after I made my meringues using three egg whites. I am wary to make recipes that use only one part of a large amount of eggs because then you have all these yolks or whites left over and no plan and then you either made an omelette, ice cream, or creme brulee. So that's what I did!
The actual preparation of the recipe was very easy, albeit a little time consuming just because you have to wait for the cream to heat up then cool down and then for the water to boil. Once you have it in the oven, you're off the hook for 25+ minutes, and this is where my mistake came in. I took it out at 25 minutes and it was set on the top but still very jiggly, so I should have put it back it for a few more minutes. But I didn't. I thought maybe it would continue to set up once it cooled in the fridge, but it didn't get much more set than that. Once it comes out of the oven, you have to let it cool in the water bath, then cool to room temp out of the water bath, then cool in the fridge. THEN you can sprinkle sugar on the top and torch it. This is where my second mistake came in. I do not have a kitchen torch so I thought it would be fine to just use the broiler. I mean, it was either that or my lighter for my candles. I put it under the broiler with the oven door cracked so I could watch for when it was fully melted and brown, then took it out. The sugar melted pretty nicely but I think the heat from the broiler melted the custard and just make it even more soupy.
There are ways that you can rebake the custard if it is not set the first time like mine, and that actually seemed to work pretty well for the second ramekin. I had it in at 325 and just kept an eye on it until it was less jiggly, about 20 minutes. Overall, would make this recipe again.
Recipe (from From a Chef's Kitchen):
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar plus more for topping
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan.
3. Add in vanilla extract, stir, and remove from heat. Let stand for 30 mintues.
4. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil.
5. Combine egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale yellow and thick. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the cream mixture slowly into the egg mixture. Whisk until smooth.
6. Place ramekins in a baking dish so that they do not slide around. Fill each ramekin with an even amount of the custard.
7. Pour the boiling water into the pan until it comes halfway up the ramekins.
8. Bake approximately 25 minutes or until set but slightly loose in the center.
9. Remove dish from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
10. Cool ramekins in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.
11. Sprinkle tops of custard evenly with sugar. Use a kitchen torch or oven broiler to carefully brown the top and form a caramelized candy coating. Allow to cool before serving.
Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the creme brulee on the spoon, because I only had pictures of the melty one and not of the twice-baked one. I'll try to update this post if I remake the recipe sometime.
And I'm very happy to report that I have a 38 day streak and I can usually understand the sentences and phrases and the stories are funny. Would definitely recommend doing the stories on Duolingo.
Anyway, I had a hankering to make creme brulee the other day. So I did. The flavor was good but I made some mistakes with the cooking time. Learn from my mistakes.
The actual preparation of the recipe was very easy, albeit a little time consuming just because you have to wait for the cream to heat up then cool down and then for the water to boil. Once you have it in the oven, you're off the hook for 25+ minutes, and this is where my mistake came in. I took it out at 25 minutes and it was set on the top but still very jiggly, so I should have put it back it for a few more minutes. But I didn't. I thought maybe it would continue to set up once it cooled in the fridge, but it didn't get much more set than that. Once it comes out of the oven, you have to let it cool in the water bath, then cool to room temp out of the water bath, then cool in the fridge. THEN you can sprinkle sugar on the top and torch it. This is where my second mistake came in. I do not have a kitchen torch so I thought it would be fine to just use the broiler. I mean, it was either that or my lighter for my candles. I put it under the broiler with the oven door cracked so I could watch for when it was fully melted and brown, then took it out. The sugar melted pretty nicely but I think the heat from the broiler melted the custard and just make it even more soupy.
Recipe (from From a Chef's Kitchen):
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar plus more for topping
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan.
3. Add in vanilla extract, stir, and remove from heat. Let stand for 30 mintues.
4. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil.
5. Combine egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale yellow and thick. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the cream mixture slowly into the egg mixture. Whisk until smooth.
6. Place ramekins in a baking dish so that they do not slide around. Fill each ramekin with an even amount of the custard.
7. Pour the boiling water into the pan until it comes halfway up the ramekins.
8. Bake approximately 25 minutes or until set but slightly loose in the center.
9. Remove dish from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
10. Cool ramekins in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.
11. Sprinkle tops of custard evenly with sugar. Use a kitchen torch or oven broiler to carefully brown the top and form a caramelized candy coating. Allow to cool before serving.
Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the creme brulee on the spoon, because I only had pictures of the melty one and not of the twice-baked one. I'll try to update this post if I remake the recipe sometime.
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