Custardy Goodness!

[madbaker]

Or, this week's Resolution Recipe.
Creme Caramel

1 1/4 cups sugar
4 T water
1 3/4 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
5 eggses
2 egg yolks

Heat oven to 325. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan mix 3/4 cup of the sugar and the water. Swirl to dissolve and cook over medium heat to about 325 degrees - caramel stage - swirling constantly. It should take about 3-5 minutes (or longer!) and do not mix with a spoon. Pour into a 9" pie plate or individual ramekins, coating by tipping and swirling. Do it quickly before the caramel sets.

Pour milk and cream into a separate saucepan. Split the vanilla bean, scrape out, and add the seeds and pod. Heat to a boil. Remove from heat and let infuse for 15 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, yolks, and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Add milk mixture and stir to combine. Strain out vanilla pod; pour into baking dish(es) and bake in a water bath for 40-50 minutes, until set. Remove from oven and chill for several hours.

To serve, loosen edges and invert onto a plate, letting the caramel pool around.

What worked: I like creme caramel and this was successful. More vanilla would not be amiss, but I routinely double the amount of vanilla called for in a recipe.

What didn't: I used individual ramekins and they didn't de-rame very smoothly. There was a lot of caramel left on the bottom of each ramekin that needed chiseling off. We had one left over, and I poured hot water around it for about five minutes before inverting; that made the de-rameing process much smoother and also melted out more of the caramel for flavory burnt sugar goodness. So that's the way to do it in the future.

Will I make it again? Yeah, probably.

Comments

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

Some chefs have MAP gas (? right spelling?) torches (little ones) for just this kind of thing.

Yum. Yum.YUm.

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of getting a torch so I could make creme brulee, one of our favorite desserts. OTOH, it would be an excuse to have it more often, and neither the spouse or I really need to put on even more pounds. <g>

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

I've been considering making custards with fat-free half-n-half, egg whites, and Splenda. They cook up OK, but I haven't been up to making the experiment yet.

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

I dunno ... the thought of fat-free custard just seems so weird. (And fat-free half-n-half? What is the other half? I mean, really ... that's just wrong ...)

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

I hear that! It's taken me about a year to get my head around the thought of fat-free half-n-half. It seems so... well, like military intelligence, y'know? ;-)

But if it tastes good, and can fix that craving for custard, then I'd be glad to eat it!

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

OK, I was sufficiently intrigued by this discussion that I have just started the recipe, using these substitutions:

Caramel: same as in the original recipe.

Vanilla: as described, but with 1/2 tsp vanilla extract when the taste test indicated it needed more.
Milk/heavy cream: 2% milk, fat-free half-n-half
Eggs: All egg whites, including one additional egg's worth for the yolks
Remaining sugar: 2/3 of required using Baking Splenda instead of full sugar.

Caramel went just as planned.

Custard thickened nicely -- in fast, it started to thicken so fast that it was setting up when I put it in the bakin pan. (I didn't go hunt down my ramekins... I put it in a teflon pie dish instead.)

It's in the oven, baking in the water bath. Results, later!

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

Is it possible the caramel was too thick or something? I have seen these done with a sauce that just comes right out and pours over the flan/custard. Dunno if it's the same thing, though ... (and I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to thin out the caramel, so I'm just asking ... <g>)

Results on low-fat custard...

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

So: Recipe above:

The custard came out firm, sweet, yummy. I couldn't taste any discernable difference between it and full-fat custards. After reading about your travail with getting the caramel out of the pan, I sat it briefly in a pan of water from the Insta-Hot before flipping it over, and most of the caramel came out and ran down the sides as expected.

The stuff didn't keep in the fridge very well, did yours? The caramel sank into the top, more or less. And it wept a little.

Otherwise, very yummy. I'll have to try it again.! Thanks for the inspiration.

Re: Results on low-fat custard...

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's a difference with the full-fat version. Mine kept fine in the fridge for two days with no signs of liquefaction.

Re: Results on low-fat custard...

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

That's a thought. Guess we just have to eat all of it next time! Thanks for the chance to experiment, tho!

(Liquifaction always sounds like something one reads in an autopsy. Brrr.)