Creme caramel, a dessert consisting of a rich, creamy custard with an overlying layer of soft caramel is a delight relished the world over. In my opinion, the most fascinating part of this yummy dessert is the ease with which it melts into your mouth. The mere appearance of the creme caramel is enough to set anyone drooling. Also known as flan or caramel custard, this sweet delight can be prepared at home easily.
The following recipe proposed by Joanne Chang is worth a try.
Ingredients:
For the custard:
Heavy cream- 2 cups
Milk- 1 cup
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Eggs- 2
Egg yolks- 3
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp.
A pinch of salt
For the caramel:
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Method:
For the custard:
1.) In a sauce pan over medium heat, cook the milk and cream until small bubbles start appearing at the sides of the pan.
2.) At the same time, in a mixing bowl whisk the sugar, eggs and egg yolks together.
3.) Now gradually pour the hot milk-cream mixture into the sugar-egg mixture and whisk slowly.
4.) Strain this mixture using a sieve. Now, add the salt and vanilla extract to the mixture and mix well.
For the caramel:
1.) In another saucepan, take the sugar to prepare the caramel. To the sugar add water only in minimal quantity required to melt the sugar and set the pan over high heat.
2.) Within a few minutes, the mixture begins to boil and after several minutes as the water starts evaporating color appears in the saucepan and caramelization has begun.
3.) Swirl the pan so that caramelization occurs evenly. From here on it will take only a few seconds to obtain the perfect dark brown caramel. Do not overcook as you may burn the caramel.
4.) Now, take six 6-oz ramekins and pour the caramel into each of them in such a way that a thin layer of caramel covers the base of the ramekins.
For baking:
1.) Once you have poured the caramel into the ramekins, the next step is to pour the custard mixture you have prepared.
2.) After pouring the custard, place all ramekins together in a baking dish. Fill the baking dish with water till lower half of ramekins is immersed. Cover the baking dish with a foil.
3.) Now, place the baking dish in an oven preheated at 325°F and bake until the custard is set. The baking time will vary from 25-50 minutes depending upon the depth and thickness of the ramekins.
4.) Once the custard is set, pull out the ramekins from the oven and cool them. Now, refrigerate the ramekins for a minimum of two hours.
After refrigeration, invert the contents of each ramekin onto a separate dessert plate carefully. You can use a knife to release the custard from the sides of the ramekin. Make sure that you do not break the creme caramel while inverting.
What are you waiting for? Go ahead and enjoy your yummy creme caramel.
Image: Icecreamireland
Via: Taunton
