My ex-boyfriend, a French chef, got me hooked on Crème Caramel and Crème Brulé. These delicious desserts are at the top of my dessert listing in a restaurant
or if I’m hosting a dinner party. This is the recipe he left me with. Let me
alert you to the difference between these two desserts. Crème Caramel has the
caramel on the bottom of the custard dish, while Crème Brule has the caramel or
sugar coating on the top and it’s fired with a hand torch or broiler to make it
crunchy.
Makes 4 Servings
Ingredients
Ingredients for the caramel
1 cup Sugar
¼ cup of Water
Ingredients for the custard
1 cup Milk
1 cup Fresh heavy cream
½ cup of Caster Sugar
4 Whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
How to make Caramel Custard
We begin making the Creme Caramel by preheating the oven to
150 C. Prepare the ramekins by greasing them with butter.
How to make the caramel:
Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and place it over
medium heat. Stir continuously until the sugar melts into a liquid. Once the
sugar is completely melted, turn the heat to low and allow the sugar to bubble,
with occasional stirring until the color is a golden brown, thick and runny
like honey. Do not burn this mixture or you’ll have to start over.
Turn off the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of water. Gently
distribute the caramel a teaspoon at a time to coat the base of each one of the
ramekins.
How to make the custard:
In a large high-walled bowl; whisk all the eggs until whites
and yolks are combined.
Combine the sugar, milk and cream in a heavy bottomed
saucepan on medium heat. Stir the mixture until the sugar melts and turn off
the heat. Gradually beat in the whisked eggs into the milk mixture, whisking
continuously as you pour. Don’t turn this into scrambled eggs, so be patient. Stir
in the vanilla extract and whisk well.
Run the mixture through the sieve to remove any traces of lumps that got
formed while combining the eggs into the milk. Pour this into the prepared
caramel lined ramekins.
Place the filled ramekins on a roasting tray filled with hot
water enough to come two-thirds of the way up the dish. Never use cold water
when you’re making any custard desserts, or you’ll have soup in the ramekins. Place
the whole thing on the center shelf of the preheated oven and bake for 45
minutes to one hour, until the custard is set in the center.
The way to rest is when you shake the ramekin gently, the
custard should feel firm, slightly wobbly and springy to the touch. Once done,
remove the ramekins from the roasting tray and allow to cool completely at room
temperature. Once cooled cover the ramekins with a cling film and refrigerate
for at least 6 hours before turning out into the platter.
When you're ready to serve, run a palate knife around the
edges of the ramekins to loosen the custard. Place the serving plate on top of
the ramekin and then turn the whole thing upside-down and give it a shake.
You will notice the delicious set Crème Caramel, is
surrounded by a pool of golden caramel sauce on the serving dish. You can
optionally serve it along with whipped cream on the top.
Serve the Creme Caramel Custard as a comforting Dessert
after your dinner meal.
Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of
experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere.
Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts from Phoenix
University in Business Management, then a degree. Mass Communication and Cyber
Analysis from Phoenix University, then on to Walden University for her master’s
in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft and is currently
studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes
coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime.
Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare
time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, Gouche, and pastels.
As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career,
Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using
history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 7 blogs that range from
art to life coaching, to food, to writing, Gardening, and opinion or history
pieces each week.
French Fare,
Potpourri of Frugality. Kilbride
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