Creme Brulee

This was my first time attempting Creme Brulee! Creme brulee is pretty much my favourite dessert, and I got a kitchen torch for Christmas, so I had to give it a go! I was a little intimidated because I've had incredible creme brulee, and I wanted mine to be absolutely perfect the first time I tried it! Guess what? It wasn't... But it was CLOSE! Next time I have a few things I need to do differently, so I'll share these tips so yours can be perfect the first time :)

 



 



The original recipe comes from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 teaspoons turbinado (raw) sugar, divided (if you can't get turbinado sugar, you can use regular sugar)

Directions:

Prepare a roasting pan by lining the bottom with a dish towel. Place 4 ramekins in the pan. Fill a kettle, and bring to a boil. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a small/medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of the whipping cream, and the sugar and salt. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and it let rest for 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining cup of whipping cream.

Whisk the egg yolks and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup of the cream mixture until smooth. Whisk in the remaining cream mixture. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer - this step is important!!! I didn't do it because I don't have a fine-mesh strainer, and my creme brulee suffered. While it turned out delicious and creamy, there were a few small lumps - it hurt the texture and enjoyability (yup, that's a word... :| ). I will be purchasing a strainer before I make it again!

Evenly distribute the custard into the ramekins. Carefully place the pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the pan so that it reaches 2/3 of the way up the ramekins. Bake until the custard has set and no longer jiggles when you move it! I took mine out too soon, and the final product wasn't quite as firm as I would have liked it - I will be keeping it in longer next time :)

Place the ramekins on a wire rack for 2 hours to cool. After the custard has cooled, tightly cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 4 hours (I refrigerated overnight, and that worked just as well!).

About 30 minutes before serving, sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons of the turbinado sugar evenly over the custard - you can shake the ramekin to distribute the sugar evenly.

Here comes the fun part..... KITCHEN TORCH!!!!

Light your kitchen torch, and put the flame to the sugar until melted and browning. Refrigerate uncovered for another 30-45 minutes.

While it wasn't perfect, I'm very happy with how it turned out! Amazing recipe, and I learned from it!! I am going to try again very soon.

 

Creamy, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

For Christmas, I got the one thing I've been dying to own since my love for cooking first sparked - a genuine, bona fide KitchenAid Food Processor!!

As soon as I got home from my parent's house, I had to try it out immediately! As fate would have it, I was invited to a potluck that very night, so scalloped potatoes it was.

I've made this recipe (from allrecipies.com) a few times now, and I've tweaked it for ultimate cheesy flavour.

Ingredients

• 4 russet potatoes, sliced very thin (around 1/8 inch wide)
• 1 onion, sliced even thinner than the potato
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups shredded Old Cheddar cheese, divided

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 1 quart casserole dish.

Layer about half of the sliced potato in the prepared casserole dish, then layer all the sliced onion.

Layer the remaining potato and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, and whisk in the flour and salt. Continue whisking for about a minute.

While whisking, slowly add the milk. Cook until the sauce has thickened, approximately 5 minutes.

Turn off the burner heat, and add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. Whisk until smooth.

Pour the cheese sauce over the potatoes, and cover with aluminium foil. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the potatoes are nearly done. Take the foil off for the last bit, and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over it. Bake additional 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are completely soft, and cheese is browning and bubbly.

I made a double recipe for the potluck, and the time it took to prepare was cut in half! I can't wait to use my food processor for more recipes!!  

Oh, and the scalloped potatoes were a big hit at the potluck :)