Tag Archives: creme brulee

Creme Brûlée

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Filed under Creams and Puddings, deep flexipan, dessert, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, stainless steel cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

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I am a very picky eater. I have been spoiled by my upbringing ( it is difficult to beat my mom, aunt and grandmother’s cooking), and as a result, I am not easily content with my meal. While some of my friend may be happy with a warm meal, I am more satisfied with one that will open my senses and will pleasure my sight. The same goes with dessert. In fact, I can even say that it gets worse. As I worry of my size, and my health, I don’t always indulge. It has to look appealing and it has to sound amazing before I will venture to take a bite. My most favorite dessert are, I am sorry ( or not;0) to say French. I like the delicateness of French desserts and the airiness. I am fan of mousse, and cream dessert more than cakes. Among my most favorite desserts you will find Creme Caramel and Creme Brûlée.

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This Sunday as I was getting ready to make Pistachio Macarons for my sister-in-law, I was left with a dozen of yolks. What do you do with yolks… well mostly cream;-) Though the answers can be endless, as many French desserts require yolks only ( creme anglaise, creme patisserie, Cream puffs, Bavarois, Charlotte, Custard…) I decided to go with Creme Brûlée as they are my daughter’s boyfriend favorite and he was coming for dinner….

Do you know that Creme Brûlée is one of the easiest dessert there is?!?! The key is to have the right ingredients:-” and the right recipe and everything is easy from there.

Ingredients for 8-10 individual portions of creme brûlée:

  • 3 cream of heavy cream
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 9 yolks
  • 3/4 cups of sugar + more sugar for sprinkling
  • 1 tbsp of vanilla paste ( or vanilla extract)
  1. Mix the cream with the vanilla paste, pour the mixture into a large pot and bring it to boil.
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  2. After it has come to boil, let it cool down a bit.
  3. Turn the oven to 325.
  4. While, the cream is cooling, place the egg yolks in a large bowl, add the 3/4 cup of sugar and beat well until the mixture whitens.IMG_1174
  5. Slowly, pour the milk over the mixture and mix well.IMG_1176
  6. Place the containers inside the deep flexiflat that you would have placed over the medium perforated sheet.
  7. Pour the cream in each container. Pour water around the individual containers. Place the pans in the oven in the medium rack of your oven and cook the cream for 30-35 minutes.IMG_1178
  8. When the cream has baked for 30-35 minutes, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely before placing them in the fridge to cool ( they will need to cool for at least 1 hour).IMG_1182
  9. Keep the cream in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.
  10. When it is time to serve them, sprinkle some sugar over each cream,IMG_1184
  11. and with a torch burn the sugar to cake the caramel crust.IMG_1185
  12. Serve and enjoy this scrumptious dessert…IMG_1191

 

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Creme Brûlée

  • Servings: 8-10 people
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

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Ingredients for 8-10 individual portions of creme brûlée:

  • 3 cream of heavy cream
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 9 yolks
  • 3/4 cups of sugar + more sugar for sprinkling
  • 1 tbsp of vanilla paste ( or vanilla extract)
  1. Mix the cream with the vanilla paste, pour the mixture into a large pot and bring it to boil.
  2. After it has come to boil, let it cool down a bit.
  3. Turn the oven to 325.
  4. While, the cream is cooling, place the egg yolks in a large bowl, add the 3/4 cup of sugar and beat well until the mixture whitens. Slowly, pour the milk over the mixture and mix well.
  5. Place the containers inside the deep flexiflat that you would have placed over the medium perforated sheet.
  6. Pour the cream in each container. Pour water around the individual containers. Place the pans in the oven in the medium rack of your oven and cook the cream for 30-35 minutes.
  7. When the cream has baked for 30-35 minutes, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely before placing them in the fridge to cool ( they will need to cool for at least 1 hour). Keep the cream in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.
  8. When it is time to serve them, sprinkle some sugar over each cream, and with a torch burn the sugar to cake the caramel crust. Serve and enjoy a piece of scrumptiousness…….

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Creme Brulee French Toast

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Filed under bread, breakfast, Large round mold, pancake/ soufle/ waffle, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, stainless steel cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

On week-ends, I will indulge with yummy French bread and croissants. And of course I did just that this past week-end. Unfortunately I was so busy that I did not have time to have breakfast on Sunday so there was a lot of bread leftover by Monday. I don’t like to waste food, so I decided to use this bread for a yummy breakfast casserole that I knew my Theodor would eat;-).

This recipe was presented to me by one of my customer, but I tweaked it a bit.

You may use french bread, or brioche, or even challah, but white bread loaf works the best. It is not too soft, and not to hard so it absorbs the egg mixture really well.

Ingredients for 4:

4 slices of white bread  cut in 1 inch thickness ( which crust has been removed)

  • 2/3 stick of butter
  • 2/3 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tbsp of corn syrup
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup of half and half
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp of orange extract/ or brandy-flavored based orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier
  • 1/8 tsp of salt

First you will want to make the caramel. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir until the sugar is dissolving and the mixture is bubbling.

Pour this mixture into the large mold.

Lay the bread over the caramel, and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs, the half and half, the vanilla extract, the orange extract, the salt. Pour this mixture over the bread, and place this mold into the fridge to rest for several hours, at least 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 and when the oven has reached the temperature, place the mold and cook the casserole for 20-25 minutes  or until it is fluffy and a little brown.

After taking it out of the oven, let it rest a while so that it will not be so hot. Serve the French toast on individual plates Add a few fresh fruit on top of the French toast, and drizzle some of the caramel off the casserole. Et voila!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Roasted Pear Creme Brulee Tart

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Filed under Cakes, Creams and Puddings, dessert, fruit, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

I love pears but I have never found a dessert other than poached pears that I have really liked. So when I saw this recipe of Roasted pear and creme brulee  in the Best Baking recipes of Cooking light 2011, I had to try it! And it was very good. Very very light! It is just not an easy recipe since there are so many steps.

Ingredients for a large tart tray of 12 inches.

Roasted Pears: 4 pears cored.  2 tsp of lemon juice, 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg, 2/3 cup of brown sugar.

Place the pears cut side down on a flexipan. In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients and mix well. Sprinkle the pears with the sugar and spices mixture, and bake them in an already warm oven of 450 for 30 minutes or until the pears are tender. Cool completely, remove the skin and slice thinly.

The pastry ( Pate Sablee): 8 oz of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature, 2 tbsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt.

Place the sugar, salt and flour in a bowl and mix well. Slowly add the butter a little at a time, and mix well until the dough sticks together. Place the dough on the roulpat, and flatten until it is the size of the tart. Roll the roulpat with the dough on it, and place in the fridge to cool. After 10 minutes, take the dough back out, and place it into the tart tray. Perfore the dough to prevent air pockets. Lay baking beads or dry beans all over the dough to prevent the dough to rise during baking. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Let it cool. Remove the baking beads or dry beans. Fill with the creme patissiere.

Ingredients for the filling ( Creme Patissiere) :3/4 cup of brown sugar, 4 1/2 tbsp of all-purpose flour, 3 cups of fat-free milk or reduced milk, 1 piece of vanilla bean, 2 tbsp of vanilla extract, 2 eggs.

Bring the milk, vanilla, vanilla bean,  sugar & a pinch of salt to a gentle boil in a pot. In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until the mixture becomes pale and light. Stir in the flour slowly until it is thoroughly mixed with the egg mixture. Remove the vanilla bean from the milk and scrape the seeds out with the tip of a knife. Drop the seeds into the milk and stir. Pour the boiling milk into the mixture a little by little while whisking continuously to avoid curdling. And then stir in the rest of the milk until the mixture is well combined. Transfer the whole mixture into a pot and heat it under low setting. Stir it constantly with a wooden spoon  until it thickens. Once the custard has thickened, take it off the heat, pour it into a clean bowl and let it cool down. Once cooled, cover it with a plastic wrap and refrigerate it until needed.

Pour the cream over the dough, and lay the pears over the creme patissiere. Sprinkle with brown sugar, and with a kitchen torch heat the sugar until it caramelizes. Enjoy!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Creme Brulee…. Our Father’s Day Treat

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Filed under dessert, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

What did you guys do for Father’s Day? Did your spoil your dad or even your spouse? Being far away from home, all I did was sent my best wishes to my husband and hope that my children had done the right thing…..?!?!

I was not at my dad either, but at my sister so I was not able to do a thing for him either…Oh well.

So guess what I did today? nothing!!!! which was quite nice. I enjoyed the day with my twin sister. We had a late breakfast and then we went for a long afternoon cross country ride in the surrounding forests. Sophie, my twin sister, lives near Arcachon which is located on the shore of the Atlantic ocean near Bordeaux. The landscape is quite amazing. There are large forests of pine trees, and many salty lakes. Not very far from where she lives, sits the largest sand dunes of all Europe. It is quite impressive! So it was really nice to ride our bike this afternoon in this beautiful landscape. When we came back though, we had to get back in the kitchen to prepare a good meal. After all it was Father’s Day;-)

This is what we had. Doesn’t it look appetizing?

On the menu:

  • Foie Gras
  • Mixed Greens with a walnut and balsamic vinaigrette and warm goat cheese on toasts.
  • Duck Confits with Pomme de Terres Sarladaises (Sauteed potatoes in duck fat)

and for desserts, we had Creme Brulee. Yummmmmm

As you see, I am not on a “diet”. I am trying to be careful about what I am eating, but when my sister says” You need to eat this, this is good for you…”, what am I to do?

I am not going to give you the recipes for everything because, 1. it would take too long, 2. i am not sure that you would actually cook things such as confit or foie gras…So I will share the recipe of the Creme brulee. It is fairly easy to make and such a delight to eat!!!

Ingredients: 10 egg yolks, 1 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 liter of heavy cream, 1 tbsp of vanilla extract, brown sugar to dust the creme brulee at the end.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture becomes almost white and has doubled in size. Warm the cream to boiling temperature and pour the cream into the egg mixture. Place the mixture on the stove at a medium/low, and keep stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens a bit, and the cream can “coat” the spoon. Remove from the stove, and pour in small containers. Place the container in a tall baking sheet. Fill the baking sheet with water. And bake in oven for 60 minutes at a T of 257. When cooked, remove the containers from the oven and let them cool. Sprinkle brown sugar on the top of the cream, and with a torch burn the sugar until it become a thick layer of caramel. Let it cool and eat!!!

Bon Appetit!!!!!