Culinary Confessional
This is a blog of my journey to change my life.
Makes 6 servings
Toasts
1 loaf unsliced white bread, brioche or rich bread of your choice
1 1/3 cups whole milk
2/3 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier or another orange liqueur or 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping
2/3 cup granulated sugar
Cut bread into 1 1/2-inch thick, generous slices; a 9-inch loaf should yield 6 slices. Whisk together milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, liqueur, and vanilla extract, if using. If using a vanilla bean, halve it lengthwise and scrape the pulp into a small dish. Whisk vanilla bean with one tablespoon of custard, then whisk in another and a third tablespoon, then pour the vanilla bean-custard mixture back into the main batter. This avoids having vanilla bean clumps that don’t disperse in your batter.
Preheat oven to 325. Arrange bread slices on the smallest rimmed tray that will fit them in one layer (encourages maximum absorption) pour custard over slices. Allow them to absorb the custard for 30 minutes, turning the slices over at one point to ensure they’re soaking it up evenly. [Do ahead: You can also soak them overnight in the fridge. No need to flip them if so.]
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer custard-soaked slices to prepared sheet, arranging them with a smidge of space between each to avoid making one French mega-toast. Flipping them halfway through if you wish, bake French toast slices for 30 to 35 minutes, until a slim knife inserted into the center of a slice and twisted ever-so-slightly does not release any wet custard. Keep warm until ready to serve.
To caramelize the tops: Either leave toasts on their baking sheet, or transfer to a serving platter. Have ready a small offset spatula and a potholder or trivet to rest your caramel pot on.
Melt remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a small, heavy, completely dry saucepan over moderate heat, stirring with a small spoon or fork until fully melted and the color of honey. Move it over to the potholder or trivet you’d set up and working quickly, spoon one generous tablespoon caramel over your first slice of toast, spread it thinly and evenly with your offset spatula and repeat with the remaining toasts. Because your caramel will continue to deepen slightly in color (veering towards almost-too-toasty) as you work, it’s best to work quickly but carefully. Let no fingers or forearms be harmed in the melted sugar’s path and should a single drop land on the counter or on your towel or on the rim of the plate, do not swipe it. Just leave it until it cools.
[Hot water will melt all hardened caramel and make your clean up job easy. Simply soak your pot/spoon/spatula and all will melt off.]
Serve with fresh berries and if you’re feeling extra fancy, loosely whipped cream. We don’t find that it needs any maple syrup.
Alternative top-caramelizing method: A really obvious question here would be “But would the broiler work?” The method would be to sprinkle each toast with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and let the broiler do the torching for you. However, my broiler doesn’t work. Never has, so I cannot test this. But, if it’s anything like my attempt (explained in the post) to use a blowtorch, I’m not feeling overly confident about it because the unevenness of the toasts leads to edges singeing before the sugar fully melts. But if you try this method, please report back in the comments as to how it went. I’m sure plenty of folks would prefer to avoid melting sugar.
Approximate Nutritional Values: http://www.food.com/recipe/creme-brulee-french-toast-13388
CREME BRULEE ICE CREAM
Ingredients:
2 cups very cold heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
10 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla or 1 vanilla bean, split
pinch salt
10-12 tsp. raw sugar
equipment needed: culinary torch
Instructions:
Beat egg yolks, sugar and salt together until thick and light in color. Heat milk with vanilla bean, if using, until very hot. Add to the eggs and sugar in a slow, steady stream. Pour back into pan and cook over medium-low heat until it reaches 170-180 degrees F. (Be really careful not to let it curdle!) Pour through a sieve into a clean bowl. Add the cold cream and vanilla extract, if using.
Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight. Or to speed up the chilling process, use an ice water bath.* Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer directions. Divide the ice cream between 10-12 small freezer-proof bowls or ramekins, leaving a little space at the top. Press a bit of waxed paper on the surface to make it smooth and flat. Transfer to the freezer.
To serve:
Remove ramekins from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving and allow to soften a bit at room temperature.
To caramelize the sugar:
Sprinkle top of each ramekin of ice cream with 1 tsp. raw sugar. Use a torch to caramelize the sugar. Serve.
**You can prepare and ice water bath buy using two nesting bowls. Just make sure that the bowl holding the ice water is large enough to accommodate the bowl with the custard. You want most of the custard bowl to be submerged in ice water so the custard can cool sufficiently. Or you could also fill your kitchen sink with ice and water.
I like to use a large glass bowl to hold the ice and water, and my stainless steel Kitchenaid mixer bowl to hold the custard. The metal gets much colder, much faster than glass.
The colder you let the custard get, the faster it will freeze and the smoother it will be.
Approximate Nutritional Values: http://www.food.com/recipe/creme-brulee-54681
1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale yellow.
3. Add cream and vanilla, and continue to whisk until well blended.
4. Strain into a large bowl, skimming off any foam or bubbles.
5. Divide mixture among 6 ramekins or custard cups.
6. Place in a water bath, and bake until set around the edges, but still loose in the center, about 40 to 50 minutes.
7. Longer baking time will be required for larger, deeper ramekins.
8. Remove from oven and leave in the water bath until cooled.
9. Remove cups from water bath and chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
10. When ready to serve, sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of sugar over each custard.
11. For best results, use a small, hand-held torch to melt sugar.
12. If you don’t have a torch, place under the broiler until sugar melts.
13. Re-chill custards for a few minutes before serving.
