lemon cup custard

Well, I didn’t intend to choose an unpopular dessert for Tuesdays with Dorie this week. I was picturing a satiny, lemony pots de crème-type custard. Obviously I didn’t pay enough attention to the ingredients, which, with just milk, whole eggs, lemon zest, and sugar, in no way indicate that this custard would be rich. Sorry, custard-haters!

Hey, at least it was easy and didn’t use many ingredients. After the milk is steeped with lemon zest, it’s mixed into sugar and eggs, then baked in a water bath. I added a drop of lemon extract to half of my custards.

The lemon flavor was pretty tame, although it was noticeably stronger with the extract. The texture was certainly more eggy than I expected. I don’t mind the texture of classic baked custard, but I know it isn’t popular with a lot of people.

Overall, I thought the custard was light and refreshing, especially with the bit of lemon extract. It’s even a relatively healthy dessert – no butter, believe it or not! Not only that, but it was easy. So at least it was a winner in my book!

Lemon Cup Custard (from Baking: From my Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan)

Mine seemed to cook a little faster than Dorie indicates, so you might want to check them early.

Makes 6 servings

2¼ cups whole milk
grated zest of 1 lemon
4 large eggs
½ cup sugar
pure lemon oil or extract (optional)

Getting ready: Have six (6-ounce; ¾-cup) custard or coffee cups at hand. Put the milk and zest in a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and set aside for 30 minutes so the zest can infuse the milk with its flavor. Reheat the milk before mixing the custard.

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325F. Line a roasting pan with a double thickness of paper towels and put the custard or coffee cups in the pan. Have a fine-mesh strainer at hand. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

In a 1-quart glass measuring cup or a heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until well blended. Still whisking, strain in about ¼ cup of the hot milk little by little – this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly strain in the remaining milk. Discard the zest remaining in the strainer. If you’d like a stronger lemon flavor – Dorie usually does – stir a few drops of lemon oil or extract into the custards. (Don’t go overboard – ⅛ teaspoon extract, less if you’re using oil, is about the most you’ll need.)

With a spoon, skim the foam off the top of the custard, then pour the custard into the cups. Very carefully slide the roasting pan into the oven, then pour enough hot water from the teakettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cups.

Bake the custards for 40 to 50 minutes, or until they jiggle only in the center when you tap the cups lightly. Transfer the cups to a rack and cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serving: Serve just as is.

Storing: Well covered and away from foods with strong odors, the custards will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Playing around:
Vanilla Cup Custard: Omit the lemon zest and oil or extract, and after the hot milk has been blended into the eggs, add 2½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract. (Dorie often adds ⅛ teaspoon pure almond extract too.) Alternatively, you can steep the milk with 1 split and scraped vanilla bean instead of using extract.

Lemon-Clove Cup Custard: Add 4 whole cloves to the milk along with the lemon zest.

Orange-Star Anise Cup Custard: Omit the lemon zest and oil or extract and add the grated zest of 1 orange and 3 points from a star anise to the milk before heating it.

Espresso-Cinnamon Cup Custard: Omit the lemon zest and oil or extract and add a cinnamon stick to the milk before heating it. Whisk 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder into the egg-sugar mixture.

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floating islands

When you make a commitment to bake a recipe every single week, some of those weeks are by necessity going to be half-assed. It’s not that I’m any less interested in floating islands than any other dessert – it sounds tasty, and it’s definitely not something I have experience with – it just happens that this week I have another dessert project that dominating my attention right now.

Floating islands are meringues that have been poached in milk and are served with crème anglaise. It wasn’t that I skimped too much on the effort involved; it’s just that I decided to use only one egg. That means I made a quarter of the meringue recipe and one sixth of the crème anglaise.

None of this recipe was very difficult, although the work involved with multi-component desserts always seems to add up. The only portion I had any problem with was the poaching, and most of that was because I didn’t carefully read the instructions that warn you that the meringues will deflate after poaching. I thought I had screwed them up, so I ate one while I poached the rest.

I served the floating islands with berry coulis. Dave and I both thought that the dessert was really good. It would be even better with some fresh berries. I’ll have to try that next time. Shari has the recipe posted.

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caramel-topped flan

Like a lot of Tuesdays with Dorie members who joined the group late, I plan on eventually making all of the recipes that I missed. Why not? I make those thirteen recipes (down to nine, now), and I will eventually have baked through the entire book. How cool is that?

There were just two recipes that I had no interest in. I already have tried and true recipes for both pound cake and crème caramel, plus Dorie’s versions didn’t get rave reviews across the board. But, Dave requested flan, and he was insistent that it be flan and not crème caramel, never mind that they’re the same thing, and since Dave rarely gets so specific, I indulged him.

This flan wasn’t drastically different than my other recipe. There wasn’t as much caramel, but it seemed like enough. The custard ingredients and methods are very similar, so I’m not clear on why the tops of these flans turned golden, while the crème caramel that I made last year isn’t browned at all.

The two recipes are so similar that I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. They’re both smooth and creamy with a good balance of sweet caramel. It was definitely worth making it to get it marked off the list. I think I might try making the pound cake recipe now. It never hurts to try a new recipe.

One year ago: Marcella Hazan’s Lasagne Bolognese – not my favorite lasagna recipe, but I learned a lot from making it

Caramel-Topped Flan (from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours)

Makes one 8-inch flan, or six 6 servings in 6-ounce ramekins, or 8 servings in 4-ounce ramekins

For the caramel:
⅓ cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
squirt of fresh lemon juice

For the flan:
1½ cups heavy cream
1¼ cups whole milk
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Getting ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Line a roasting pan or 9-by-13 inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off heat.

Put a metal 8-inch round cake pan – not a nonstick one – in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel. (If you are using individual molds or ramekins, then skip this step.)

To Make the Caramel:
Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke.

Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.

To Make the Flan:
Bring the milk and heavy cream just to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up.

Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don’t worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.) Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean. (Small, individual molds will take less time- start checking for doneness around the 25-minute mark).

Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it. Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan-the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.

Storing: Covered with plastic wrap in its baking pan, the flan will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. However, once unmolded, its best to enjoy it the same day.

Serving: Bring the flan to the table and cut into wedges. Spoon some of the syrup onto each plate.

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french pear tart

This tart had everything going against it. For one thing, I wasn’t in the mood to make a three-part dessert. For another, Dorie says that it’s supposed to be eaten the day it’s assembled, and I had my doubts that Dave and I would be eating the whole thing in one day. But that worked out – I made a third of the recipe, which I divided between two mini-tart pans. I prepared the ingredients, but didn’t layer them or bake each tart until the day I planned to eat it.

I was too tired to take photos of the finished tart the first night we ate it. But the second night was even worse – Dave had very attentively refilled my wineglass throughout the evening, and I was hard-pressed to find the motivation to take photos of food. Plus the second tart (the drunk one) wasn’t as pretty as the first tart (the tired one). Imagine that.

But all’s well that ends well, because the tart was delicious. The crust was crisp but not tough, and the almond cream complimented the pears nicely. The dessert was pretty sweet and I could have used some more salt somewhere, but I say that every week. I had never eaten anything like this, so I’m really glad I tried it.

Dorie actually chose the recipe for us this week, and the recipe is posted on her blog.  Dorie has been fantastically supportive of Tuesdays with Dorie from the beginning of the group. She regularly answers questions, she’s posted about the group multiple times on her own blog, and this week she took the time to answer a number of interview-type questions that TWD members have wondered about for the past few months. I love baking along with a group and I enjoy the recipes from the book, and having Dorie interact with TWD so closely is the icing on the cake.

One year ago: Oatmeal.  We just had this last weekend – I love it during the winter.

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butterscotch pudding

A few years ago, a group of my friends got together and did a whiskey tasting. We compared a few different whiskeys of varying quality. At the time, they all tasted really strong to me, but I think that was the turning point of when I started to actually like whiskey. And butterscotch, which, by the way, is traditionally brown sugar and butter and has nothing to do with whiskey, tends to taste a little too sweet for me, so I was thinking that adding some whiskey would be perfect to cut that.

Of course I was glad that this week’s recipe was so simple, since, like everyone else I think, I’m swamped by Christmas right now. It’s a pretty standard pudding recipe – heat the dairy, add it to the egg yolks, heat everything together until it thickens. Dorie likes to use a food processor for pudding to get the smoothest texture, but I was way too lazy for that, so I did my best with a whisk.

The pudding was very good. It was definitely smooth enough without the food processor. If my fine-mesh strainer hadn’t been dirty, I would have strained the pudding through that, but it worked out nicely even without that step. It was indeed very sweet. The alcohol flavor was pretty strong on the first bite, but it seemed to blend with the other flavors as I kept eating. Overall, this was very good pudding, and I definitely prefer butterscotch when it’s accompanied by whiskey.

The recipe is available on Donna’s site.  I think I’ll cut the amount of scotch in half next time, just to bypass the initial spoonful of overwhelming alcohol flavor.

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thanksgiving twofer pie

Laurie, the administrator for TWD, gave us the option of blogging about the Thanksgiving Twofer Pie, a combination of pecan and pumpkin pie, on Thursday instead of Tuesday, under the assumption that some of us would be making it for Thanksgiving. I tried to imagine my family’s reaction if I offered something so untraditional after the turkey. My mom would raise her eyebrows, loudly, if such a thing is possible, and eat maybe half a piece. My dad would eat his portion and proclaim it good but not as good as Libby’s pumpkin pie. My brothers and sister are more easygoing, and they might actually enjoy it for what it is – something different, god forbid.

I admit to being a little apprehensive about the pie myself, not being a big fan of pecan pie, or even pecans, for that matter. But I’m generally game for something new, so I followed the recipe almost exactly. I did toast the pecans before adding them to the pie, and I ran out of corn syrup and substituted maple syrup for almost half of the corn syrup.  I also used a different pie crust recipe.

The recipe came together smoothly for me, although I will admit to a twinge of regret when I added the pecans to the wonderfully pure pumpkin pie filling. The only problem I had was that my crust became incredibly difficult to cut through after baking. I am not exaggerating when I say that I ate my pie with a steak knife. I don’t know what happened – my only guess is that the sugary pecan pie filling made its way down to the crust and crystallized. I haven’t seen anyone else mention this problem, but there was nothing unusual about the pie crust I made. Maybe the maple syrup caused the problem?

I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed this pie. I’m so glad that I added some maple syrup, because that flavor was really noticeable, and it was fantastic. I did think the pie was sort of, um, ugly, once sliced. I wish the layers had stayed separate. That’s okay though, it was still tasty.

Vibi, who’s actually from France and therefore has no interest in Thanksgiving, was kind enough to choose this dessert for all of us American TWD members. The recipe is posted on her blog (in both English and French – just scroll down for the English version).

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rice pudding

I thought Tuesdays with Dorie was going to mutiny this week. Isabelle chose rice pudding for us to make, but the recipe has a mistake in it regarding the cooking time, and Dorie was traveling without an internet connection and wasn’t able to give us a heads up until many of us had already had frustrating experiences.

Even worse, the recipe was suspicious from the beginning. Dorie uses just ¼ cup of rice to thicken 3¼ cups of milk, far less rice than most rice pudding recipes use. Plus, the instructions actually say that the pudding will be thin when it’s taken off of the stove, but it’ll thicken once it chills. I don’t think Dorie meant that it should be quite this thin.

Unsurprisingly, my “pudding” never thickened. I left it in the fridge for two days, too irritated to think about it, until I realized that I could just put it back on the stove and try cooking it longer and maybe it would thicken. And eventually it did. Once Dorie was able to let the group know about the typo, I realized that the cooking time was indeed supposed to be longer than what the book says.

In the end, the rice pudding was pretty good. I wouldn’t say that it was any better or worse than the only other time I’ve had rice pudding. At least there was chocolate this time.  Rice pudding just isn’t really my thing though. I kept thinking to myself, “why is there rice in my pudding?” Dave wondered why anyone would eat rice pudding when they could be eating tapioca pudding. He has a good point.

Isabelle has posted Dorie’s rice pudding recipe. Keep in mind that you’ll need to cook it for 55 minutes or so, until the texture is pudding-like. The ratio of rice to milk does work.

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bourbon pumpkin cheesecake

For years, I didn’t make cheesecake, because I only had a 9-inch springform pan, and I rarely had anyone around to eat 12-16 servings of cheesecake. I know cheesecake freezes well, but it sounded like a hassle, with the slicing and packaging correctly to avoid freezer burn. Then I got this little 4-inch springform pan, which has come in handy a few times, and which led to the fantastic Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake. But a 4-inch springform cheesecake is really only big enough to whet my appetite. Dave and I had two tiny servings each of the apple cheesecake, and it wasn’t near enough.

The solution, of course, is more cheesecake. Pumpkin cheesecake is not only seasonal, but one of my favorite cheesecake flavors. I’ve tried a couple different recipes, all of which were good, but none struck me as the best pumpkin cheesecake ever, so I saw no reason not to try a new recipe. I chose the one on epicurious that had the most positive reviews.

I used a different recipe for the crust, because I didn’t have pecans, and I’m not sure I’d want them in the crust anyway. The recipe also includes a sour cream topping that I skipped because I didn’t have sour cream. And, again, it seems unnecessary.

I made one third of the recipe, which was a little too much for my mini springform pan, so I did some googling and figured out how to make cup-cheesecakes. I love it! They’re so cute and perfectly sized. I think next time I’ll just press the crust in the bottom of the muffin cup and not up the sides, but other than that, I was really pleased with this method. I followed Clare’s instructions and let the cheesecakes chill in the freezer for a few minutes before popping them out with a butter knife, and they came out fine, even though I had underbaked the centers.

One problem with pumpkin cheesecake is that it tends to look plain. This recipe recommends a sour cream topping, and I’ve seen some accompanied by recipes for bourbon whipped cream, but cheesecake is so rich that I can’t see topping it with something else that’s so rich. I think what I want to do is make a marbled cheesecake. I’m going to try separating out some of the batter before adding the pumpkin, then swirling the plain batter in the pumpkin base. I might have to tweak the filling ingredients just slightly, but I want to keep the recipe similar.

As is though, the flavor and texture of this cheesecake more than makes up for its lackluster appearance. It was perfect – dense and creamy with just the right balance of pumpkin and cream cheese. We finished the third of the recipe that I made in an embarrassingly short time, and it was all I could do to resist making more just two days later.

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake (crust from Cooks Illustrated, filling adapted from Gourmet via epicurious.com)

To bake cheesecakes in a muffin pan, line each muffin cup with the crust mixture. Pour in the filling and bake 20-25 minutes at 350F. Cool on a rack until room temperature, then freeze for 15 minutes before using a butter knife to prop the cheesecakes out of the pan.  I’m thinking this amount of filling will made about 24 cup-cheesecakes.  You’ll probably need to increase the crust to 12 crackers, 4 tbsp sugar, 8 tbsp butter (and a teensy bit more of each spice).

Crust:
5 ounces graham crackers (9 whole crackers), broken into large pieces
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1½ cups canned solid-pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
½ cup (3.5 ounces) packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon liqueur or bourbon (optional)
½ cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350F. Spray bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan evenly with nonstick cooking spray. Pulse crackers, sugar, and spices in food processor until evenly and finely ground, about fifteen 2-second pulses. Transfer crumbs to medium bowl, drizzle melted butter over, and mix with rubber spatula until evenly moistened. Turn crumbs into prepared springform pan and, using hand, spread crumbs into even layer. Using flat-bottomed ramekin or drinking glass, press crumbs evenly into pan bottom, then use a soup spoon to press and smooth crumbs into edges of pan. Bake until fragrant and browned about the edges, about 12 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling.

2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium speed, scraping down the bowl often, for about 4 minutes, or until it is velvety smooth. In a medium bowl, stir together granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Add granulated sugar mixture to cream cheese and beat for another 2 minutes. In a medium bowl (or the same one), whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cream, vanilla, and liqueur (if using) until combined. Beat at medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes.

3. Pour filling into crust, smoothing top, then put springform pan in a shallow baking pan (in case springform leaks). Bake until center is just set and measures 140 to 150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 50 to 60 minutes.

4. Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 3 hours. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 4 hours. Remove sides of pan and bring to room temperature before serving.

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brown sugar apple cheesecake

I’ve been avoiding buying apples so far this fall. I like them, quite a bit in fact, but I have to pace myself. I eat a lot of fruit, and apples are pretty much the only fruit in season for a good portion of the year. I try to maximize my opportunities to eat the fruit with shorter seasons. But it’s getting to be time to move on to apples, and what better way to kick off apple season than with cheesecake? I should start using every fruit in cheesecake to kick off its season.

Tuesdays with Dorie made this cheesecake long before I joined, and it definitely contributed to my eventual purchase of the book. I don’t know why apple cheesecake never occurred to me before, but what a fantastic idea. Dorie has tweaked traditional cheesecake to include brown sugar, cinnamon and apple cider, and I’m sure you can imagine how well that compliments the apples.

The recipe went off without a hitch, despite making just 1/6 of it in a tiny but cute springform pan. With three components, it isn’t the quickest recipe to put together, but it’s worth it even before the cheesecake – because you also get to eat the batter. My favorite is when it’s just cream cheese and sugar, but I make sure I test every stage.

The cheesecake is delicious, although I think I’ll slice the apples a lot thinner next time because I’m picky about texture. Dorie describes the texture as middle-of-the-road as far as cheesecakes go, and I think she’s right on; it’s not exceptionally dense. The mini-cheesecake was a mistake, because I definitely did not get enough.

PS – The apples decoration on top was shamelessly copied from foodie bride.

Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake (from Dorie Greenspans’s Baking: From My Home to Yours)

For the Crust
30 gingersnaps (or a scant 2 cups graham cracker crumbs)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the Apples
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3 large Golden Delicious or Fuji apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar

For the Filling
1½ pounds (three 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
¾ cup (packed) light brown sugar
6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons apple cider
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
¾ cup sour cream
⅓ cup heavy cream

Apple jelly, for glazing, or confectioner’s sugar, for dusting (optional)

To Make the Crust:
Butter the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan.

Put the gingersnaps in a food processor and whir until you have crumbs; you should have a scant 2 cups. (If you are using graham cracker crumbs, just put them in the food processor.) Pulse in the sugar and cinnamon, if you’re using it, then pour over the melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are moistened. Turn the crumbs into the springform pan and, using your fingertips, firmly press them evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan as far as they’ll go. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the pan from the freezer and wrap the bottom tightly in aluminum foil, going up the sides. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is set and lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool while you make the apples and the filling. Leave the oven at 350 degrees F.

To Make the Apples:
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, toss in half of the apple slices and cook, turning once, until they are golden brown, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the apples with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and cook them, turning, just until coated, another minute or so. Scrape the apples onto a plate, wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining apples. Let the apples cool while you make the filling.

Getting Ready to Bake:
Have a roasting pan large enough to hold the springform pan at hand. Put a kettle of water on to boil.

To Make the Filling:
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium speed, scraping down the bowl often, for about 4 minutes, or until it is velvety smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes. Beat in the cider, vanilla, and cinnamon. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in. Finally, beat in the sour cream and heavy cream, beating just until the batter is smooth.
Pour about one third of the batter into the baked crust. Drain the apples by lifting them off the plate with a slotted spoon or spatula, and spoon them into the pan. Cover with the remaining batter and, if needed, jiggle the pan to even the top. Place the springform pan in the roasting pan and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 to 45 minutes, covering the cake loosely with a foil tent at the 45-minute mark. The cake will rise evenly and crack around the edges, and it should be fully set except, possibly, in the very center-if the center shimmies, that’s just fine. Gently transfer the cake, still in the pan, to a cooling rack and let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it for at least 6 hours; overnight would be better.

Run a blunt knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the crust, open the pan’s latch and release and remove the sides.

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creme brulee (twd)

I love Dorie’s creative recipes, but I tend to turn to Cooks Illustrated for classics. So when I saw that Mari had chosen crème brulee for TWD, my first thought was to compare the two. But I’ve already compared Dorie and CI’s recipes a couple times, so instead, I decided I would play with some of the different flavors Dorie recommends.

I made vanilla, Earl Grey, and ginger variations. I thought I could combine some of the steps for the variations, but that didn’t work out, so it was really like making the recipe three separate times. I didn’t have enough of the right sized ramekins, so I put the custard mixes in mini-tart pans instead. I was worried that the custard would leak because the tart pans have removable bottoms, but it worked out okay. Until I dropped the baking pan with the six full tartelette pans on it and everything spilled. Being clumsy is a pain in the ass.

Frustrated with that, I went back to my original plan to compare Dorie’s recipe to CI’s. (My freezer is full of egg whites now.) I was curious about this comparison anyway, because the recipes were significantly different. Dorie uses almost half the number of egg yolks compared to the amount of dairy, and she also uses a combination of heavy cream and milk instead of just heavy cream. That makes CI’s recipe much richer.

Whoa. Dorie’s also makes tiny servings. I wouldn’t expect that from her.

I assumed we’d like the richer crème brulee better, but Dave and I both preferred Dorie’s softer custard. However, Dave liked the flavor of CI’s better, which may be the pinch of salt added, or the lower amount of sugar used in CI’s, which could bring out the flavor of the other ingredients more. I used vanilla beans instead of vanilla extract in both recipes.

This is my most successful brulee job. (That goes for Dave too – this is the only kitchen task he’s excited about helping with.) I used a mixture of brown sugar and granulated, and in the past I used pure granulated. Apparently the mixture is more forgiving, because I used to end up with a combination of charcoaly burned areas and raw areas.

It’s crème brulee, so you really can’t go wrong. Unless you spill it all over the oven. Check Mari’s blog for Dorie’s recipe.

Classic Creme Brulee (from Cooks Illustrated)

Serves 8

CI note: Separate the eggs and whisk the yolks after the cream has finished steeping; if left to sit, the surface of the yolks will dry and form a film. A vanilla bean gives custard the deepest flavor, but 2 teaspoons of extract, whisked into the yolks in step 4, can be used instead. The best way to judge doneness is with a digital instant-read thermometer. The custards, especially if baked in shallow fluted dishes, will not be deep enough to provide an accurate reading with a dial-face thermometer. For the caramelized sugar crust, we recommend turbinado or Demerara sugar. Regular granulated sugar will work, too, but use only 1 scant teaspoon on each ramekin or 1 teaspoon on each shallow fluted dish.

4 cups heavy cream, chilled
⅔ cup granulated sugar
pinch table salt
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
12 large egg yolks
8 – 12 teaspoons turbinado sugar or Demerara sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Combine 2 cups cream, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan; with paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into pan, submerge pod in cream, and bring mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure that sugar dissolves. Take pan off heat and let steep 15 minutes to infuse flavors.

3. Meanwhile, place kitchen towel in bottom of large baking dish or roasting pan and arrange eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) on towel. Bring kettle or large saucepan of water to boil over high heat.

4. After cream has steeped, stir in remaining 2 cups cream to cool down mixture. Whisk yolks in large bowl until broken up and combined. Whisk about 1 cup cream mixture into yolks until loosened and combined; repeat with another 1 cup cream. Add remaining cream and whisk until evenly colored and thoroughly combined. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into 2-quart measuring cup or pitcher (or clean medium bowl); discard solids in strainer. Pour or ladle mixture into ramekins, dividing it evenly among them.

5. Carefully place baking dish with ramekins on oven rack; pour boiling water into dish, taking care not to splash water into ramekins, until water reaches two-thirds height of ramekins. Bake until centers of custards are just barely set and are no longer sloshy and digital instant-read thermometer inserted in centers registers 170 to 175 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes (25 to 30 minutes for shallow fluted dishes). Begin checking temperature about 5 minutes before recommended time.

6. Transfer ramekins to wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Set ramekins on rimmed baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 4 days.

7. Uncover ramekins; if condensation has collected on custards, place paper towel on surface to soak up moisture. Sprinkle each with about 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar (1½ teaspoons for shallow fluted dishes); tilt and tap ramekin for even coverage. Ignite torch and caramelize sugar. Refrigerate ramekins, uncovered, to re-chill, 30 to 45 minutes (but no longer); serve.

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