At the mere mention of the word "dessert" involuntarily there are associations with some beautiful, sweet, delicate and delicacy melt in your mouth. For some it’s bird’s milk or a fragrant ice cream, for someone it’s tiramisu or a biscuit cake with whipped cream. One thing is clear - creme brulee is always out of competition.
Creme brulee is an incomparable French dessert with an unforgettable and unique taste. Soft, airy cream, covered with golden caramel glaze. This is a real culinary delight, a sophisticated and unique masterpiece of French cuisine.
Modern housewives successfully cook it with their own hands, since all the necessary ingredients will certainly be found in any home, and the cooking process itself is surprisingly simple. Like all ingenious, however.
Creme brulee - general principles of preparation
A well-established classic recipe for crème br брюlée, beloved around the world, was invented in the 17th century. Since then, fans of culinary experiments have repeatedly added something from themselves to the familiar list of products. Some wanted to give a brighter flavor, others - to play with a palette of tastes, and others - to create their own signature recipe ... However, as a result, only a few additional ingredients were fixed - cinnamon, lemon peel and vanilla. It is these spices that are most often added to a classic dessert.
Classic creme brulee can be cooked in the oven or in a water bath. Today, simple hostesses and professional chefs are able to cook this sweet treat even in microwave ovens.
The "zest" of any creme brulee is golden caramel glaze. It is prepared as follows: melt the sugar to brown and pour a thin layer on the already prepared cream. After some time, the caramel hardens and forms a characteristic sweet crust.
The whole process from food preparation to full preparation of creme brulee takes about one and a half hours.
The traditional calculation of products per serving of dessert: 1 egg yolk, 20 g of sugar and 100 ml of cream. To add or not to add to the classic set of additional spices, the cook himself decides.
What you need from the dishes
It makes sense to prepare the dishes and necessary household appliances in advance, since then there will be no time to be distracted by their searches or even purchase.
You will definitely need a mixer or a whisk to beat the yolks with sugar, and a baking sheet to put cream brulee molds on it.
It is better to take small tins (for example, for muffins), in which equal portions of dessert will be baked.
Dry clean pan is needed for making caramel.
Some masters also prepare the top sweet crust in a water bath, boiling it until brown.
Often, milk is added to the main ingredients, so you may need a small saucepan in which it will boil.
Classic creme brulee dessert
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons of sugar for caramel - the larger the sugar, the better;
- 8 egg yolks (no proteins needed);
- 2 cups cream with a fat content of 30%;
- a third of a glass of powdered sugar or sand;
- vanilla sugar (a teaspoon will be enough).
Cooking method:
Grind granulated sugar or icing powder. Beat for about a minute until the sugar dissolves. When the whipped mass turns white, add hot cream with vanilla to it, without stopping stirring with a spoon.
Delicate cream is ready, you can pour it into molds.
Filling the baking sheet a third with water, put the molds on it and send it to the preheated oven. 160 degrees will be enough to bake this dessert.
The readiness of creme brulee is determined by hardened edges. Moreover, the edges should be baked, and in the middle the dessert should remain liquid.
Remove the finished delicacy from the oven and, having cooled a little, pour a thin layer of caramel glaze.
Caramel crust for creme brulee can be prepared in many ways:
1. In the pan. Large sugar is melted in a hot hot skillet until brown. It is advisable to add a few drops of water to sugar.
2. In the pan. Sugar is boiled in a small bowl until it is completely dissolved.
3. Use a culinary sugar blowtorch, which is previously spread on the surface of the dessert in a uniform layer.
4. Finished creme brulee sprinkled with sugar and put in the oven for a few minutes until the crust has a golden color.
5. In the oven on the grill. Sprinkle sugar with each serving of dessert and put in an oven preheated to 240 degrees. When the sugar turns brown and boils, the molds with creme brulee can be pulled out.
Ready caramel is poured hot over the dessert, as it freezes very quickly. Therefore, it is not worth preparing glaze in advance.
Creme brulee orange
Ingredients:
- 100g of sugar;
- a glass of milk;
- 2 oranges;
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon;
- 6 egg yolks;
- 350ml heavy cream;
- 100g cranberries.
Cooking method:
Beat the yolks with sugar until white until sugar crystals are completely dissolved.
In a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon, cream and milk. Boil. Do not boil, but immediately remove from the stove.
Now you need to prepare the fruit and berry filling. To do this, mix the cranberries with orange pulp and immediately spread on molds in equal portions.
Pour the egg mixture into a container with preheated milk and cream. Boil until thick and hot to be poured into molds.
After heating the oven to 180 degrees, send the creme brulee there for about half an hour. At this time, prepare the caramel, then to pour it ready dessert.
Cool and serve.
Creme brulee coffee dessert
Ingredients:
- instant coffee - 1.5 tablespoons;
- 4 yolks;
- a teaspoon of vanilla sugar;
- 2 tablespoons of coarse sugar (for caramel crust);
- sugar for cream (¾ cup);
- cream with a fat content of 20% (0.5l).
Cooking method:
Mix the yolks and sugar until white, and mix the cream, coffee and vanillin and bring to the boil.
Carefully pour the egg mixture into the cream, mix and pour the resulting mass into small molds.
Put them (molds) on a baking sheet filled with water for 3 cm.
Cook in a preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes.
Ready dessert, according to tradition, pour liquid caramel.
Creme brulee with pistachios
Ingredients:
- 500ml fat cream;
- orange peel (you can grate an orange peel on a fine grater);
- 5 egg yolks;
- 100g of sugar;
- vanilla to taste.
- 35g green pistachios.
Cooking method:
Combine vanilla, cream, crushed pistachios, orange zest and half sugar in one container. Cook the resulting mass while stirring over medium heat. When the sugar has dissolved, bring the cream to a boil, but do not boil.
While the cream is getting cold, rub the remaining half of the sugar with 5 yolks in another container and add the egg mixture to the cream. Stir and pour in molds.
Take a baking sheet, fill it with water at half the height of the tins and put the future treat there.
Bake creme brulee in the oven for an hour.
Pour caramelized sugar onto the dessert surface and keep in the refrigerator until it cools completely.
Creme brulee banana dessert with cinnamon
Ingredients:
- juice squeezed from half a lemon;
- 500ml 10% cream;
- 2 bananas;
- half a teaspoon of cinnamon;
- a tablespoon of brown sugar;
- 5 yolks;
- 1 whole egg;
- 100g sugar + 50g for caramel.
Cooking method:
Bring the cream to a boil and cool for 10 minutes. Beat sugar, egg and yolks until white. Sugar should dissolve completely. Mix the egg mass with cream.
Cut bananas into a separate container, add brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Mix gently. Banana circles carefully lay out on the bottoms of each of the molds, then pour the egg-cream cream to the top.
In the oven heated to 150 degrees, put a baking sheet, one third filled with water. Place molds with a future dessert on it and leave to bake for about 30-40 minutes.
After complete readiness, melt the sugar to brown and pour the cream of brulee with the resulting glaze.
Serve completely chilled.
This is only a small part of the recipes that exist today. Creme brulee can be cooked with tangerines, and with yogurt, and with peaches, and even with liquor.
Each culinary specialist adds a drop of fantasy to the classic recipe, getting a new version of the French dessert that is so beloved by the world.
Creme brulee - tricks and tips
A few simple but useful tricks that will help make this exquisite delicacy even tastier:
1. To prepare creme brulee is preferable in small molds. This will allow the dessert to bake evenly and also significantly reduce the waiting time. In addition, this method allows you to initially divide the dish into equal portions - this is especially true if there are several children or guests in the family. Look at the same molds with a beautiful and neat dessert.
2. Yolks with sugar and cream are ground not to cool foam, but to white. Some hostesses do not recommend working with a whisk or mixer, but with a spoon in order to prevent foaming in time.
3. “Creme brulee” literally translates from French as “burnt cream”. The dessert got this name thanks to the top caramel crust, which can be obtained without burning in a dry frying pan. Rescue special culinary device, resembling a small blowtorch. If there is such a device in the house, then to create a firm golden layer, you just need to sprinkle the finished cream with sugar and melt it with a cooking lamp to caramelize. If there is no such device, then after the creme brulee is ready, you can put it in the oven for a couple of minutes on the top heater, sprinkled with sugar.
Ready brulee cream is served on the table completely chilled. Therefore, cooks prefer to cook this sweet treat about a day before serving.
If desired, you can decorate the dessert with fresh berries, grated chocolate, coconut flakes, nuts or mint leaves.
