Crème Brulée

[Bondbug 32]

"Crème Brulée", called er ... crème brulée! Is baked custard or "egg custard", with sugar sprinkled on top when cold and "burned"

 

An old recipe, which sounds interesting uses a dozen eggs, a pint of sack, 3 pints of cream and half a pound of fine sugar. The old drink "Sack", would be now replaced by medium-sweet sherry.

 

Baked custard is best made with cream but a mixture of milk and cream can be used:

- One pint single cream (or of single and double cream mixed)

- 1 vanilla pod

- 4 eggs

- 2oz granulated sugar

- (optional) 1 level tsp grated or chopped nutmeg

 

Gently heat cream with vanilla pod till just on boiling point.

Beat eggs lightly with the sugar

Remove vanilla pod (which can be washed and wiped for re-use)

Pour cream onto eggs and whisk thoroughly

(some strain it at this point - we don't)

 

Pour into a lightly buttered oven dish, or into individual bowls

Stand dish(es) in a tin with sufficient water to come well up the side of the dish(es) - a "bain marie".

Bake in oven for 1 hour in preheated oven 170C / 325F

Leave to get cold.

 

For Burnt Cream - (Brulée)

Method one - one big bowl - sprinkle reasonably thickly with sugar - white or light brown; and put under hot grill till the sugar caremelises and bubbles - but be careful to make sure it does npot burn.

Method two - use iron for burning in individual bowls (made to the correct size and here at least sold with the iron as part of the kit). For this see the post in the Inglenook thread My link

 

Is it good:) Silly question.

[cider_steve 26]

It is a lovely desert. Very similar to one that doesn't have the caramalised top, but I can't remember it's darned name ! Blast these advancing years !

 

If I can recall the other deserts name, then I'll come back and edit my post.

 

Steve.

[Bondbug 32]

Hi Steve - good to see you. Happy New Year young man.

 

However ...

 

P.S.with profound respects to Gogo's Aunt

 

I found another recipe for which the ingredients are:

 

1pt Double cream

1 vanilla pod

4 egg yolks

2oz caster sugar

8tbsp gran sugar.

Methods as above but oven temp 150C/300F (could this be because of more double cream?)

[chattius 2,536]

Without caramelizing, hmm, bavarian cream?

 

Isabeau was a bavarian princess who later became queen of france. The recipe is documented as much back as 1385 and is said to be the base for later french recipes.

 

Caramelizing was mainly in the seafaring nations; england, portugal, spain, france, ... access to sugar canes. Sugar beets were only breeded by the request of the german emporor like 250 year back, first results like 200 years back. So caramelized recipes were mainly for the nobleness in ancient times, at least in germany.

 

I know some old recipes which were using honey (obvious) or meadowsweet. I still use to do cream or cream ice sweetened by meadowsweet blossoms

[Dragon Brother 619]

Mmm...creme brulee tastes amazing

[cider_steve 26]

Good to hear from you too Bondbug. How is France treating you ?

 

IIRC, the desert that I was thinking of is called creme caramel.

 

Unfortunately I am at work so can't post a link.

 

Steve.

[Bondbug 32]

Yes, crème caramel is great, but unfortunately my wife can't make it without the caramel setting like rock (the skill in this case is to eat the creme then chip the caramel out without breaking the plate - but that is subject for a different topic perhaps ...

 

recipe for creme caramel anyone?

[cider_steve 26]

Yes, crème caramel is great, but unfortunately my wife can't make it without the caramel setting like rock (the skill in this case is to eat the creme then chip the caramel out without breaking the plate - but that is subject for a different topic perhaps ...

 

recipe for creme caramel anyone?

 

I can just about remember, as a child, I helped my mother once make some creme caramels. We made them from a packet which just required adding liquid and heating, iirc. So, I've never actually made them from scratch, which I'm sure is a bit more complex !

[chattius 2,536]

If you thicken juice from pressed sugar beets by heating and let a bit of the sugar contents of the juice caramelize at the wand of the cauldron you get a sirup with caramel taste. You can buy it either at supermarket in quarter litre bottled or at farmers supply in a 10 litte bucket. Interestingly the bucket is only 3 times the price than the bottle.

 

We use these syrups (clear, dark brown, clear caramelized) as a base to most recipes which need a honey or a caramel taste. Sometimes we smear it direct on a butter bread. The waste products of this syrup production are sold to USA and canada. Water and sugar removed they are used to de-ice iron bridges up to minus 34 celcius. The difference of syrup to molasse is that syrupmis taken away before sugar fabricatin, while molasse is what is left after sugar roduction. At least this is the way we use the words in germany.

 

If you want ti read about it:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet#Sugar_beet_syrup

[gogoblender 3,073]

Lovely topic, and on just about my most favorite desert in the universe. Bond, my aunt for this Christmas with her family, made for us this Christmas the most awesome holiday Feast!

 

Big Christmas Dinner 2011

 

 

Home made marzipan, and, and this stunned me... real creme brulee! She went out all out, said that she ONLY used the yolks (what the recipe called for) and a bunch of them. Tons of cream... is that a more rich version of the recipe you are posting? (Close to what Steve had put up perhaps? I'll ask her for the recipe)

 

Chattius, great info on the carmelizing. I'll have to ask my Aunt how she did it, I just can't see her wielding a blow torch. Did I tell you guys that once I was at this amazing restaurant in the quebec country area, and the chef that night had made a special edition blueberry creme bruelee with currier and ives, outdoor horse ride designs etched on the hard sugar with blueberry juice?

 

 

Wonderful about the Vanilla pod, I'll as her about that, though I'm sure she probably used Vanillin or extract.

 

 

gogo

[cider_steve 26]

recipe for creme caramel anyone?

 

Recipe link

 

There are several on the net. This looked like a good one.

[Delta! 988]

Hey guys.

here is a very easy and probably the yummiest creme brulee recipe that I have made and tasted, and I have made atleast 8 different recipes.

 

Makes 8 X 150ml creme brulee's

1litre cream(for a lighter version: 500ml cream 500ml milk)

140g sugar

3egg yolks

3whole eggs

Flavouring can be: 1 vanilla pod(seeds scraped out and also put in the mix), ground coffee beans, alcohol(a liquer, brandy etc), herbs, spices, chocolate, ginger... be creative and give your imagination free reign!

and caster sugar for caramelizing

 

preheat the oven to 100C. Bring the cream and 140g sugar and flavouring to scalding point. whisk the eggs and yolks. temper the hot cream into the eggs, pass the mixture through a sieve to remove unwanted parts. Pour into ramekins/creme brulee moulds/cups or muggs. Place in a deep tray and fill with water, place in the oven and bake for at least 40min, or until it has a "sexy wobble" when you shake it lightly.

 

Let it cool. dust with sugar and pour out excessive sugar. using a blowtorch burn the brulee keep tilting and rotating the ramekin/mould/cups to ensure the sugar burns evenly.

 

Enjoy!

 

Creme Caramel

 

start by making the caramel.

200g sugar

75ml water

put in a pan and on a hot stove, let the sugar dissolve and boil till a light caramel, remove from the heat and let it stand for a minute, the colour will still darken because of the remaining heat from the pot. pour into moulds/ramekins that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray

 

Make the custard

250ml milk

100ml cream

48g sugar

3 yolks

1whole egg

 

bring the cream, milk and sugar to scalding point, mix the egg yolks and whole egg. once the cream starts to boil, remove from the heat and temper it into the eggs, let the mixture cool and pour on top of the hard caramel. bake in the oven @ 100C until the mixture is set and doesn't run anymore. depending on the size of the moulds, should be minimum 15min. let cool and unmould before serving

 

Creme brulee and creme caramel are examples of baked custards.

"Melktert"(Afrikaans for milktart- a truly delicious SA dessert), custard tart, Chinese egg tart, Creme Patissiere and creme anglaise are examples of stirred custards.

and my Ice cream base is an example of a frozen custard. the hot cream is tempered into the eggs, but no further cooking is needed.

 

 

Delta!

[cider_steve 26]

Sounds yummy Delta, can you stick some in the post ?

[Delta! 988]

It won't last the journey steve, sorry mate.

 

 

Delta!

[cider_steve 26]

Darn, I'll have to make do with supermarket ones then.

[Bondbug 32]

Come on Steve - you can do better than that.

 

I think Gogo's aunt's recipe, and Delta's, and the one I tagged on to my original in my second post are all much the same, and much richer than my wife's simplified slightly dietary version.

 

Get yourself moving next time the oven is on. All ingredients readily available at even a local grocer's - nevermind supermarket.

 

Thanks for the creme caramel link, laddie, and the nice clear instructions from Delta. Will see that we get the crème caramel right next time!

Edited January 31, 2012 by Bondbug

[Bondbug 32]

Double posting again - go straight to jail, do not collect credit for extra posting.

 

A few minor points!

 

1. If poss Gogo find something other than *** facebook for posting your pics. I had unfortunate experiences with facebook and would not touch it with an especially long bargepole. It is firmly banned chez nous. Pity - I am sure your Xmas pics were great! Does anyone else have problems with facebook:)

 

2. Meadowsweet - mentioned by Chattius. Very interesting that use of the flowers if we can be sure of getting the right plant.

But our books say:

a) the sickly sweet scent of the flowers is attractive to flies

b) a gentle digestive remedy for acidity and some types of diarrhoea

c) astringent, diaphoretic (!), diuretic ... contains salicylic acid useful for influenza, problems of respiratory tract, gout, rheumatism, arthritis, and fever ... bladder and kidney ailments, dropsy and other problems of water retention ... diarrhoea ... and as a wash for wounds or sore eyes.

 

Phew - and all that with your ice cream! It is interesting though to hear of these traditional uses that are in danger of disappearing. How many people like to be seen these days hunting fields and hedgerows for these excellent plants.

 

3. Interested in the use of honey mentioned, but obviously not for "brulée". What had you in mind there for honey Chattius - I sense another great desert recipe in the offing.

Edited January 31, 2012 by Bondbug

[chattius 2,536]

Meadowsweet:

Attractive to flies ----- and bees. We use to smear fresh artificial beehives- bees, humblebees, wall-bees - with meadowsweet so they are more easily acscepted.

We use just young blossoms, lay them in cream over night and filter them out again. Gives a taste like almonds and honey. Many plants have poisons just in the parts normally eaten by animals, so mainly leaves and trunk. My grandma used roots and blossoms only.

Its just like potato, the parts of the plants in sunlight and therefor pronably to be eaten contain a poison.

 

Honey

We do mainly a cream which takes half a year in preparation. Half year to turn unripe green walnuts with scale into black nuts. Then a mix of filed ripe walnut, honey and sour cream is put in cellar for 4 days. Then egg foam mixed in and ornamented with slices of black nuts.

 

Have to look up the correct english translations.

[Bondbug 32]

You restore my faith in the survival of the good things in life. This last post of yours needs more study than I can give it just now. Magic.