Creme Anglaise

Since I knew I was going to make a chocolate souffle, I wanted to serve a sauce with it. I figured I would make this thin custard sauce. I figured I would try it over some berries. It was really good. Did I like it over the souffle? No. This sauce is served chilled so it needs to be prepared in advance. My son assisted in making this sauce. He had to try it warm. He liked it. Also, he liked using the cooking thermometer. To him, this dish was more like a Science experiment. My husband liked it. He thought it would have been a good topping for the Angel Food cake in which I had made the prior week.

Creme Anglaise
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the milk and heavy cream. Bring to a boil.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together. 
3. While whisking, drizzle about a couple of spoonful of the hot milk into the egg yolks.
4. Continue whisking, slowly drizzle the remaining liquid into the egg yolks. 
5. While continuing to whisk, heat the mixture until it thickens. The mixture temperature should reach 175 degrees F. 
6. Remove the mixture from the pan and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl. 
7. Stir in the vanilla extract.
8. Refrigerate the cream until it is very cold then cover the mixture tightly. 
9. Allow the mixture to chill for 24 hours so the flavor will intensify.

Recipe adapted from Baking cookbook by Dorie Greenspan.

One year ago..............................I made Chicken Pad See Ew.
Two years ago............................I made Baked Oatmeal.
Three years ago..........................I made World Peace Cookies.

Did you already know.............
-Another name for Creme Anglaise is English custard.
-Creme Anglaise needs to be kept away from strong odors so the flavor.
-Creme Angliaise is a cooked custard which can be served over fruit, crepes, pies, truffles, etc.

Pumpkin Custard

Since I had another can of pumpkin, I decided to try this recipe. If you need an easy last minute Thanksgiving dessert, then you should make this recipe. It taste a lot like the filling of a pumpkin pie. My husband said this recipe was awesome. Awesome! He really loved it. The recipe is cooked and then it chills in the refrigerator which makes it really nice to make for Thanksgiving. The original recipe had a cranberry topping but I topped mine with whip cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Pumpkin Custard
1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin purre
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup half & half cream
2 large eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spray 6 (2.5 inch) ramekins with nonstick baking spray. (A 9 inch pie pan can be used instead). Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, half & half, and eggs. Whisk to combine.
4. Evenly distribute the batter between the 6 small ramekins.
5. Bake the custard for 10 minutes.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
7. Bake the custard for another 25 minutes or until the center doesn't jiggle.
8. Allow the custard to cool for 15 minutes.
9. Place the custards into the refrigerator and serve once chilled.

Recipe adapted from NY1 news. 

One year ago..................................I made Homemade Herb Butter.
Two years ago................................I made Smothered Pork Chops.
Three years ago.............................I made Cheesy Potato Gratin.

Did you already know....................
-Pumpkins belong to the cucurbits family. 
-In America, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California produce the most pumpkins. 
-In Colonial America, pumpkin was used in the crust and not as a filling. 

Pastry Cream

I probably watch Food Network more than any other channel. I was watching Barefoot Contessa make this divine looking Strawberry Tart. Since I really didn't want to make a tart, I comprised and filled strawberries. I wanted to try the cream before making something more elaborate. Normally, I have an easy time taking photos of my son. Not this time, he just wanted to eat all the filled strawberries. He also made lots of faces. He looked angry. He crossed his eyes at me. He looked scared. He ate the filled strawberries bottom first. I am really surprised he didn't make a mess. Most of the photos were not even in focus. It is hard to take a photo if one is laughing. He does make me laugh often.

Pastry Cream
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp arrowroot 
1 1/2 cup  milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp heavy cream

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar for 4 minutes in a mixer on medium high speed.
2. Add the arrowroot and mix well.
3. In a medium pan, heat the milk until steaming. Stir constantly.
4. Slowly, pour a Tbsp of heated milk into the mixer while the mixer is mixing.
5. Gently, pour a little more of the heated milk into the mixer to temper the mixture.
6. In a steady stream, add the remaining amount of the milk into the egg mixture. 
7. Add the egg mixture into the medium pan and heat over low heat for 7 minutes. Stir constantly.
8. Once the mixture begins to become a thick pudding, whisk the mixture for 2 minutes.
9. Remove from heat.
10. Stir in the vanilla, butter, and heavy cream. 
11. Transfer the pastry cream into a bowl.
12. Cover with plastic wrap. Press down so the plastic wrap is touching the top of the pastry cream.
13. Refrigerate the pastry cream until cooled completely.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten.

One year ago.............................I made Steak Sandwich.
Two years ago...........................I made Banana Split Cake.

Did you already know........................
-Pastry cream is a rich custard.
-Custards have been around since the Middle Ages. 
-Pastry cream is the filling for eclairs and Boston Cream Pie.

Dulce de leche Flan

     I really like to try new recipes. It gets my family to try new recipes and expand their palate. Also, it is cheaper to try a lot of foods at home then out to eat. Plus, what if we order something new and then don't like it? My husband will not share his plate. My oldest daughter will reluctantly share her food. It depends on my oldest son's mood if he will share. 

     Last year, I made dulce de leche for the first time and my youngest daughter loves it. So, I decided to make flan with dulce de leche. This custard is really good. I made them individual size so we each could have our own.

Dulce de leche Flan
1 1/2 cup dulce de leche
3 eggs
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups (12 oz.) milk
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
2. Coat the bottom and the sides of 5 small ramekins (about 5.5 oz) with 1 cup of dulce de lech.  
3. Place the ramekins into a large glass baking dish. 
4. In a large bowl, whisked the eggs.
5. Add the condensed milk, milk, and vanilla extract to the whisked eggs until smooth.
6. Pour the egg mixture evenly into the ramekins.
7. Carefully pour the boiling water into the glass dish to make a water bath. Make sure no water splashes into the egg mixture.
8. Bake the flan for about 45 minutes. The flan should be set.
9. Remove the individual ramekins from the water bath and allow to cool completely.
10. Run a knife around the edges of each ramekins and invest the flan onto individual dishes (or to save dishes serve in the ramekins).
11. Drizzle additional dulce de leche over the flan before serving.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com.

One year ago..................I made Olive Garden Salad.

Did you already know....
-A savory flan was served by Ancient Romans.
-One Ancient Romans savory flan was eel flan.
-Early recipes of a sweet flan was made with honey instead of sugar.

PPQ: Creme Brulee

I received The Pastry Queen Cookbook last month. The neat thing about finally having the cookbook is I can now participate in the Project Pastry Queen. Each week a member will pick a recipe from the cookbook for us to try.

This weeks pick is Espresso Creme Brulee. Since I already have crazy children, I decided to try the rather sweet variation and top it with bananas instead. My husband helped me make this recipe. This is an awesome recipe. If you are looking for a special dessert, this is the one to try!

Creme Brulee
1/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean
7 large egg yolks
2/3 cups plus 1/2 cups sugar
1 banana, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Lightly spray 6 six ounce ramekins with cooking spray.
3.  Heat the milk with the cream in a pot over medium-high heat.
4. While the milk is heating, scrap the vanilla bean pod in half and scrap the inside of the pod with a knife. Add the vanilla pod and scraped beans into the heating milk.
5. Bring the milk to a boil and remove immediate from the heat.
6. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until well combined.
7. While whisking continuously, slowly add a little of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture at a time. 
8. After blending thoroughly, pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve to remove any vanilla pod and any overcooked egg. 
9. Place the ramekins in a baking dish and fill the dish with hot water until it reaches 3/4 up the outside of the ramekins.
10. Fill the ramekins half way with the custard.
11. Carefully, place the dish into the oven without allowing any of the water bath to touch the custard.
12. Bake the ramekins for 1 hour. The custard should just set and jiggle when shaken but not browning or bubbling.
13. Allow the custard to cool for 30 minutes. 
14. Top each custard with a single layer of thinly sliced banana.
15. Top each custard with a thin even layer of sugar. 
16. With a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar or broil the custard in the oven 4 inches from the flame until sugar is caramelized and lightly browned.
17. Serve immediately. 

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen Cookbook.  

Did you already know.................
-Creme brulee is a custard topped with a hard caramel.
-Creme brulee means burnt custard in French.
-The recipe can be found in a 1691 French cookbook by Francois Massialot.