Lemon Creme Brûlée with Fresh Berries

I was searching for a different Creme Brûlée recipe for a dessert potluck party when I found this one from Bon Appétit. I was immediately interested - lemon zest flavoring a creamy custard sounded so refreshing. And it had great reviews from many people.

I decided to scale the recipe for about five people - that way I could use up that pint of cream. The only mistake I made was using too little lemon zest. I zested the only 2 small organic lemons I had (about 1 1/2 teaspoons) - the zest of three or maybe even four small lemons would have been better. I know - that seems like a lot of lemon zest - and it will even smell like a lot when you are infusing the cream. But the recipe needs it - the reviewers were right. I'm going to try to get my hands on some lemon oil for the next time around - if it comes with recommendations from David Lebovitz, it must be worth it. I would also omit the vanilla completely. I find that the vanilla completely masks the delicate flavors of the lemon - and that's the point of the whole recipe.

This is my contribution to this month's Jihva for Ingredients, lemons & limes, hosted by Coffee over at The Spice Cafe.

Lemon Creme Brûlée
Servings: 5 to 6

For Custard
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
3-4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 large egg yolks

For Crème Brûlée
4 tablespoons sugar (regular white granulated sugar works best - I found brown sugar tends to burn before it caramelizes)
Fresh berries
1/8 cup (or less to taste) Chambord (black-raspberry liqueur) or crème de cassis (black-currant liqueur)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Arrange 5 or 6 ramekins in 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Combine cream and lemon peel in heavy small saucepan and bring to simmer. Whisk sugar and yolks in large bowl until thick, about 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in hot cream mixture, then add salt. Let stand 10 minutes. Strain custard, then divide among cups. Pour enough hot water into baking pan to come halfway up sides of cups.

Bake custards until just set in center, about 30-35 minutes. Remove custards from water bath; chill uncovered until firm, at least 3 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

Just before serving, top each ramekin with about a tablespoon of sugar dividing equally. Broil or torch until sugar melts and browns, about 2 minutes. Chill until topping is hard and crisp, at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Combine raspberries and liqueur in bowl. Let stand at room temperature at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour. Spoon berry mixture atop custards.

Key points for making Creme Brûlée:

(For all the following, the reference is Harold Mcgee's epic 'On Food and Cooking')

• The custards needs to cook in a narrow range from 175-185°F; exceeding this range by 5 or 10°F can cause the custards to become grainy. Cook the custards in a thin metal baking pan in a water bath. The water bath keeps the oven heat in check so the custards cook gently. (Water can't exceed 212F, and evaporative cooling keeps the water temperature lower at 180°F in a metal pan) A glass baking pan will retain more heat than a metal one (185°F)and reduces your margin of error somewhat.
• Don't omit the salt - it's plays a key role in the custard formation.
  
• This dessert is all about the texture, so it's necessary to strain the mixture before baking. Don't bother adding fresh berries or fruit into the custard - there will be pockets of liquid in the finished dish from the fruit. Pre-cooking and using some flour/cornstarch may help reduce that - but why spoil the texture?
  
• Only cook the custards till the center jiggles slightly. They will finish cooking outside the oven.
  
• A propane torch is invaluable for making the caramel topping. The caramel should be hard enough to shatter when rapped with a spoon. You should hear a satisfying crunch when it's cracked. If you don't hear that on your first trial ramekin, add more sugar, caramelize and refrigerate uncovered for a few minutes.
• If using a broiler, chilled custards are particularly important so that the custards won't start cooking again. An ice bath would help too.
• Scalding the cream is not strictly necessary - in this recipe its needed for the infusing the lemon peel. But it can be skipped if using lemon oil or other extracts. The custards will take a bit longer to set in the oven, but the recipe will work just fine otherwise.
• Meeta provides more useful tips and tricks for making Creme Brulee, invaluable for first attempts.

Pots De Crème and other experiments...

Pots De Crème


After reading about how much Molly at Orangette liked a Pots De Crème recipe from an old issue of Gourmet magazine, I just had to give it a try. The recipe called for muscovado and demerara sugar - I couldn't find them at a couple of local supermarkets, so I went ahead and used brown sugar instead. Delicious. The custard seems similar to that for a Crème Brûlée. I tasted a bite after the ramekins had cooled to room temperature - and found I could not stop. These desserts can disappear in a jiffy. They are smooth and silky, and even though I had only used brown sugar, had some complexity in the sweetness. Since the recipe is so basic, just cream, eggs and sugar, every ingredient needs to shine. I can see why bothering to find quality ingredients and the specialty sugar can be worthwhile.

Green Mango Rice


I crave green mangoes every now and then. (Its also been years since I ate sweet luscious Alphonso mangoes, but lets not go there now). This stir fried Green Mango Rice is a keeper - coconut, green chillies, cilantro and mangoes play along nicely in this recipe. A different version of the classic sour rice preparations from South India, like lime rice and tamarind rice.

Appey Pancakes - Savory vegetable pancakes

I was looking for a quick and light meal - Appey made with rava and yogurt fit the bill. I added shredded carrots to my version for some extra nutrition. I didn't have the specialty pan to make these, so mine look more like savory vegetable pancakes. These would make a very nice breakfast, but I had these for dinner, and was left sort of still hungry - but that's still good for a diet dinner:)

Salt Baked Fish

I have seen versions of whole fish baked in salt in a number of places. So a whole red snapper got baked up in a dome of salt with a few crushed spices of my choice. Because the moisture is trapped inside the salt casing, the fish ends up juicy and tender. Easy to make - and definitely worth it. A word of caution though - this recipe has nothing but salt, the spices add very little to the dish - so its all about the fish, and not much else. I served this with some olive oil and lemon wedges.

Apricot, Banana, Clementine Terrine

Terrine is French for a glazed earthenware cooking dish with vertical sides. It's also the name for any food that is prepared in a terrine (much like a tagine).

I was discussing terrines and this event with a friend, and she was aghast that I wouldn't try any other terrine. 'Jello with fruit?', she exclaimed. 'There are so many better things you can do', she said.My mind flashed back to the only time I had made and enjoyed this dish as a child, and I told her 'It tastes good...". Well? - she was right. I guess our palates change over time.

I made a Banana Bread pudding with a Tangerine Caramel sauce recently, and it had so many layers of flavors from caramelized bananas and from the fruity caramel. This dessert is at the exact opposite end of the spectrum. This is an incredibly simple tasting dessert, something that kids would love. Adults? I am not so sure... So why am I blogging about this? So people who are planning to make this, know what to expect I guess. This is my entry to The Passionate Cook's (Johanna) Waiter! There's something in my... event.




Apricot, Banana, Clementine Terrine
2 envelopes (1/4 ounce each) unflavored gelatin

2 cups white grape juice
1/2 cup sugar
5 1/2 to 6 cups of mixed fresh fruit, sliced. I used apricots, bananas, clementines and wild blueberries

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup grape juice; let soften 2 to 3 minutes.

Heat sugar with another 1/4 cup grape juice in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in softened gelatin until dissolved, then stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups grape juice.

Place fruit in a 4-by-8-inch (6 cup capacity) loaf pan; pour gelatin mixture over, pressing fruit gently to submerge completely. Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.

To unmold, dip bottom of pan in hot water for a few seconds. Invert onto a serving platter, and shake firmly to relase. Slice to serve.

References
This recipe is adapted from Elise's Berry and Banana Terrine.

Fruitcake

As a child, I ate a store bought Fruitcake once a year around Christmas. I thought it was delicious and always wanted to try my hand at making some. A year ago I caught an episode of Alton Brown making Fruitcake on his show Good Eats. The recipe looked interesting, and I went out and stocked up on the several different kinds of dry fruits needed for this recipe. They languished around in my pantry for a while until I finally decided to give this recipe a try.

This recipe beats any fruit cake I have eaten so far - it is so delicious that it's easily my top Recipe of the Year (and I don't really have a sweet tooth!). It's chock full of dry fruit that is meltingly tender, not tough and chewy, and the flavors are heady and aromatic. The rum doesn't smack you in the face even though there is so much of it, it just plays along with the rest of the ingredients perfectly.

You can find the entire stock of dried fruit and candied ginger in a single stop at Trader Joes. The cake keeps for a few months easily at cool room temperature, just keep basting it with alcohol and store it in an airtight glass container. (I kept a small piece in a plastic container and found that it tends to pick up off flavors from the plastic). The cake keeps so long because it has a good amount of alcohol and sugar from both the dried fruits and the added sugar, both of which act as preservatives much like salt or oil do.

Here is my adaptation of Alton Brown's Fruitcake.

1 cup dark raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup sun dried cranberries
1/2 cup sun dried blueberries
1/2 cup sun dried cherries
1/2 cup mixed raisins and blueberries chopped
Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely
Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
3/4 cup dark spiced rum mixed with 1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
5 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks)
1 cup unfiltered apple juice
4 whole cloves, ground
6 allspice berries, ground
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Brandy for basting and/or spritzing

Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit.
Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.)
Heat oven to 300 degrees *.
Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated, then fold in nuts. Spoon into a 2 1/2 quart glass pan* and bake for 1 hour. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 to 20 minutes, checking back as needed.
Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before turning out from pan.
When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every 3-4 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks.



I used Spiced dark rum instead of Gold rum and used 3/4 cup rum and 1/4 cup orange juice in place of the original 1 cup of rum. In retrospect, I could have used the entire cup without overwhelming the cake as I had feared.

I also used dark raisins instead of golden raisins because that was what I had on hand. I swapped out the apricots with more raisins and blueberries. I would also recommend using at least some golden raisins and apricots - they have a completely different flavor that I though could only add to this recipes appeal.

An entry on Fruitcake would not be complete without mentioning how ridiculed Fruitcake is in America. The expression 'nutty as a Fruitcake' is used as insulting slang refer to a crazy person, and people joke about how you never really eat fruitcake, you merely keep pawning it off on other people as a gift. That is the complete opposite of how Fruitcake is treated in some other parts of the world. The Caribbean black cake, a descendant of the British plum pudding, for example, is treasured and recipes jealously guarded. Receiving a cake as a gift is considered a sign of affection because buying all the fruit is expensive and making the cake a time consuming process. Here is an article with more information about black cake.

* To bake the cake, I used a couple of Pyrex food storage glass bowls that I had on hand. If you are swapping out metal instead of glass, note that the cooking times and temperatures would need slight adjustments. Glass is slow to heat up unlike metal, but retains heat better. I also wouldn't used a dark metal pan for this - dark pans absorb more heat than light ones and the edges would brown unnecessarily because they would be done long before the center is. You need bowls adding up to about 2 1/2 quarts for this recipe - I used a large 1.75 quart bowl and a smaller 1/2 quart one that just barely contained the batter. I pulled out the smaller one when it was done, in about 50 minutes.