Thursday, May 13, 2010

Crème brûlée - with less the fat

Crème brûlée - by far my favourite dessert (next to macarons)! Although, the one difference it has over macarons is that thus far, I'm actually successful at making crème brûlée. This particular crème brûlée I made though has much less cream then the ones you usually order - as I used 1% milk. Yup, that's right 1% milk. It still has the same smooth texture, but less creamy and heavy in comparison to the restaurant variety. It definitely encourages/allows you to have more than one.
Crème brûlée (makes 4 full ramekins) 

2 cups of cream or milk - I used 1% in this case
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
8 large egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar

  1. Separate egg yolks from egg whites 
  2. Beat yolks until smooth 
  3. Heat cream/milk until almost simmering 
  4. Slowly add cream to eggs 1 tsp at a time - watch that you don't cook eggs 
  5. When 3/4 of the cream remain, pour the rest of the cream into the mix 
  6. Use a sieve to strain custard mixture to remove small clumps 
  7. Blend in vanilla extract 
  8. Pour into ramekins 
  9. Place into a water bath and cook at 250F for 1 hour  
  10. Check for done-ness by shaking and seeing if center jiggles (like jello) 
  11. Place in fridge for several hours to set if desired 
  12. Sprinkle sugar on top and carmelize with blowtorch
baking notes: If using 1% milk instead of cream, turn the oven up to 300F or 350F (depending on your oven) so that the mixture will set within the hour. To prevent cooking of the eggs, start with room-temperature eggs. For a less sweet dessert, cut down the sugar to 1/4 cup or less. 


  

2 comments:

  1. Oooh, creme brûlée is definitely one of my favorite desserts. My mom sometimes makes them durian flavored for me...mmmm. I'm intimidated when it comes to baking. Kudos to you! Those look perfectly smooth :-P Sometimes when I crave creme brûlée I just run out and grab the costco ones. Have a wonderful weekend

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  2. YOU COOK! Great post! I haven't seen a cooking post from you, have I? Maybe - but I seem to recall only posts on eating out. I am thrilled to see you cook. What a beautiful brulee - but is low fat and brulee possible? :) I am the same as you - both are two of my favourite desserts. Would you be interested in a macaron making lesson - and paying for it - if I could set one up with Duchess? I am trying to get a small group interested to make it worth her while?
    And have you tried panna cotta? A great fatty creamy alternative in the summer to a brulee - and I love them, too!
    :)
    Valerie

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