Paul doesn't normally take much interest in my blog posts, but when I told him about this one, he was more than happy to know what I was up to.
Oh yes, now I had his attention! Anything that involved me cooking one of his favourite desserts was certainly going to get his approval. Leslie has organised a blog hop and if you like the idea of finding some new recipes, hop on and join in! If you arrived here from Penny's blog welcome and thank you for joining me.
My recipe is one from my favourite star baker, Mary Berry, and it is a variation to a traditional creme brûlée - this one is cappuccino flavoured. And so simple to make (but don't tell Paul that, he thinks I've gone to a lot of trouble 😉)
The original recipe serves 6 but I have halved it so that it gives us one each today and then as a special treat, Paul can have the leftover one tomorrow. This is a fab dessert if you are having people over for dinner. Ah, remember those days when we could have people come inside our house? Sigh. I digress, here's the quantities for three.
2 egg yolks
I small tub single cream (150ml)
1 small tub double cream (150ml)
22g caster sugar
1¼ teaspoon coffee granules
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
25g caster sugar (Mary says use Demerara but I find caster sugar melts faster and smoother)
US conversions can be found here.
Pre heat oven to 160 C (fan 140 or 325F) and boil some water
- Put egg yolks in large bowl, add caster sugar and vanilla and whisk to combine
- Put both creams into a pan and heat until scalding but not boiling. Remove from heat and add coffee granules and stir. Cool for about 2 mins then pour into egg mixture. Don't do this too soon or you'll end up with coffee flavoured scrambled egg!
- Pour into ramekins
- Stand ramekins in a roasting tin and pour hot water into the tin until it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. (Like a Bain Marie)
- Bake for 20 - 25 mins then remove the ramekins and leave to cool.
- Once completely cool, cover and put in fridge to go completely cold. Can be done up to 2 days ahead.
When you are ready to eat these little beauties you get to the fun bit.
Sprinkle about a tablespoon of caster sugar over the top of each one and then ... fire up the blow torch!
Of course you don't have to have a blow torch, you can just put them under a hot grill to melt the sugar until it caramelises. Once the sugar has melted, let it cool for a little while until it goes brittle and then you can crack it open with a teaspoon to reveal a gloriously silky smooth custard beneath. Yum.
Thank you Leslie for organising this blog hop (and to Ruth who recommended the cooking conversion page!)
So, now let's take off our aprons and head over to Leslie at Once upon a time happily ever after and see what's on the menu in El Paso!
The full list of the other participants can be found here:
Bon Appetit!
Mmm, that's a yummy concoction! I love the contrast of the crisp topping and the softness underneath - though I do think the cook ought to having the third one as a bonus for having made them in the first place :).
ReplyDeleteAlways appreciate a recipe share, so thank you. Baking & cooking can be fun, it always reminds me that there is a certain amount of alchemy going on in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so good. When I asked for options that he might like, my hubby mentioned custard but I just wasn't sure I could pull that one off...lol.
ReplyDeleteOoh, yum! Yours looks exactly like the ones you might find in a restaurant! :)
ReplyDeleteMmmmmmm! Creme brulee? And coffee? Two for the win! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds amazing but I'm laughing as even if you hadn't said it was one of Mary's I'd have guessed it was by the amount of cream that's in it. Mary never goes easy on the cream!! :0)
ReplyDeleteLooks and sounds delicious! I do have questions, though. What is meant by single cream and double cream? I'm familiar with half and half, heavy cream (whipping cream), and cream cheese, but not single and double. I'm also not familiar with the terms you're using for sugar. I know granulated white sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar, but what is caster sugar and the other sugar you mention? I watched my husband use a blow torch once when we took a cooking class together, but I don't own one. Thanks for telling an alternate way to melt the sugar on top. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe!
ReplyDeleteHi Gale! I think the two creams are light and heavy over there. Caster sugar is finer than granulated but not as fine as icing sugar. It may be called Baker's Sugar for you maybe?
DeleteThat sounds delicious! My son got a mini torch for Christmas for making creme brulee but we have yet to tackle that. I like that yours is flavored as I am not really a creme brulee fan.
ReplyDeleteYou had me at cappuccino!
ReplyDeleteYou can't go wrong with Mary Berry - she's the queen of the bake. My hubby would love this I think - coffee and creme brulee.
ReplyDeleteYay!! I am so glad Paul took an interest in this blog post. Atta boy. PC was glad to help with the eating of my dessert, too. Husbands are good that way, huh? I am sure Paul was happy to enjoy that third serving the next evening.
ReplyDeleteThis looks so fancy and delicious. Thank you for including the conversion page for measurements. I remember seeing caster sugar mentioned in another recipe and discovering it is similar to our granulated sugar. So funny that we have different creams and sugars from country to country.
Yummy!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my husband's favorite desserts but I don't think we have ever tried coffee flavor - which is another favorite! This looks easy...and fun to make! Thanks for sharing. Hope you are doing well!!
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