Creme Brûlée and another Alaska

As promised, here are my first recipes using the blow torch.

I made the cream brûlée, so desired by my eldest daughter. Actually I made the cream twice, following different recipes.
The first recipe was found on the Internet, a famous French chef, who lives in Brazil. I believe he has tried to simplify things. He bakes the cream in the oven in a water bath. He also uses milk and cream. But I'll tell you, I didn't like the final result.

So I had to do it all again. I did a search on the Cordon Bleu's book and I ended up doing a recipe from Julia Child (Mastering the Art of French Cooking -  the one from the movie and book Julie and Julia. Yeah, I bought it!) This time, the cream was great.

Creme Brûlée

5 egg yolks

165g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (it is worth investing in the extract, not the essence)

500g heavy cream.

Beat the egg yolks on high speed until they begin to whitening. Add the sugar by spoonfuls and continue beating. The mixture should get thick and be clear, almost white. Meanwhile bring the cream to the heat and let boil. Remove from heat and pour slowly over egg yolks, still beating , but at a lower rate.

Get back the mixture to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, do not even simmer. The cream should go slowly acquiring consistency, covering up the back of wooden spoon. Do a test: when the cream cover the back of the spoon, pass your finger through the spoon. The spoon must be clean, without the cream drips. Remove from heat, pour the cream into little bowls, cover with plastic film and refrigerate for approx. 5 hours.

When chilled, remove the cream from the fridge, cover with a thin layer of sugar and burn with torch. Serve immediately.

Note: some recipes recommend granulated sugar, other confectioners sugar. Julia Child speaks in brown sugar. I tested the first two and caster sugar. My best result was even with the caster sugar.

I also did the Baked Alaska again. This time my Alaska were much more beautiful. I made a plain cake, just added a peanut flour to the dough. The ice cream was chocolate, I bought at the grocery. My meringue was... almost good. Still need some practice.

Creme Brulee

Também em www.labgastro.blogspot.com