The urge to make a crème caramel came after a request from my expectant partner for something with custard.
Well if I don't understand the excitement some people get from the thought of a sweet dessert I do understand cravings.....I have them all the time, usually not all that gastronomic either! Quite the opposite.
A classic dessert such as crème caramel needs a classic recipe so out came Larousse Gastronomique. I'm certainly not going to take any credit for coming up with this all by myself although I did add a sliver of dark chocolate to the finished pudding as I thought the bitterness or the chocolate might be a nice contrast to the sweetness of the baked custard and caramel sauce.
There are three elements to this dessert. The custard and caramel really need to be done at the same time but the chocolate element can be done at any time. You only need to allow the custard to cool before serving as it can be served slightly warm but I like my custard cold so for me preparing a day (or few) before and leaving in the fridge overnight gives the best results.
You'll need 4 ramekins or similar oven proof moulds. The ones I used had small lips near the top which made it quite difficult to turn the finished desserts out neatly (as you may notice in the pic) so I'd recommend you use moulds without completely flush sides. Also they must be perfectly dry because any moisture will ruin the caramel.
Crème caramel with dark chocolate
Serves 4
For the caramel -
100g x Granulated Sugar
1 tsp x Lemon Juice
1 tbsp x Water
1. Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan, a heavy bottomed one works best. Heat until the sugar melts and keep heating until it turns a pale brown colour.
2. Pour a little of the melted caramel into the bottom of a mould and swirl it around until it covers the base completely. Don't be tempted to put too much in, you really only want to just coat the mould. Repeat for the remaining moulds and set aside.
(Many recipes will instruct you to coat the whole mould including the sides but I found that this just give too much caramel and makes the finished dessert far too sweet)
For the baked custard -
4 x Egg yolks
2 x Whole eggs
125g x Caster sugar
500ml x Milk
1 X Vanilla Pod
1. Preheat the oven to 185C and find an oven dish big enough to house the 4 moulds and also tall enough to be able to fill with water near enough up to the top of the moulds. This is called a "Bain marie".
2. Pour the milk into a saucepan then split the vanilla pod and scrap the seeds into the milk. Slowly bring the milk to the boil over a medium heat then remove once it has boiled.
3. While the milk is coming to the boil put the egg yolks, whole eggs and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk until is all combined.
4. Next you need to slowly add the milk to the egg mixture. It's important that you whisk the mixture all the time while adding otherwise the eggs will start to cook too quickly and you'll end up with scrambled egg rather than a nice smooth custard.
5. Pour the custard into the moulds leaving a bit of a gap at the top, no less than 5mm then place the moulds into the oven dish.
6. Using a jug fill the surrounding oven dish with cold water until it comes level with the custards inside the moulds. Then being extra careful not to let the water spill over into the moulds place the bain marie into the middle of the oven.
7. Bake for around 40 minutes until the custards are just set then remove from the bain marie and allow to cool.
8. If you want to serve them warm them all you need do is run a knife carefully around the custards then turn them out. If like me you like them cold then prior to serving you'll again need to give them a quick warm up in a bain marie for about a minute or two (which you can do on the hob) so that they loosen up a little and then run a knife around and turn them out.
For the dark chocolate -
(optional)
25g x Dark chocolate
(min 70% cocoa solids)
10g x Caster sugar
10ml x Double cream
1. Heat the cream and sugar in a small saucepan over a low heat then break up the chocolate and add into the bowl stiring until is all combined and smooth.
2. Get a sheet of baking paper and pour the chocolate onto it spreading it out evenly into a thin layer then put in the fridge to cool.
3. When it comes to serving you just need to score out the shape you require and then using a thin cold knife just lift the chocolate shape off the baking paper and onto your serving dish.
I'm thinking that next time I do this I might try and cut a chocolate circle which matches the size of the turned out crème caramel !??!
So anyway that's it. My seasonal dinner party menu is complete. An easier and tastier menu I challenge you find :-)
Toodlepip xxx
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