Crème Caramel
This is another recipe I was reading in Laura Calder’s book “French Taste” that made me think, “Hey, I haven’t made crème caramel in a while!” As you can see, this is another basic classic recipe containing nothing but sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla, and that’s what I’ve been in the mood for lately, trying to showcase the versatility of eggs and working on simple desserts at the same time.
I have a thing for the flavor of orange, especially in custard, and thought it would go nicely with the vaguely dulce de leche flavor she had said would be infused in the custard from heating the milk in the same pan as you used to make the caramel. Before the custard cooked the flavor was almost cloyingly sweet and really infused with flavor, but when I baked it, a lot of that flavor dissipated. I am not sure how much of that is because I did not infuse enough flavor into it and how much of it is because they weren’t ready the first time my timer went off and I ended up cooking them too long.
Regardless, the bites of sweet orange with the slightly bitter caramel was a nice compliment, even if the orange flavor in the custard itself didn’t really seem to come through too well. You could easily go without the addition of the oranges and go the classic route, if you wanted to. As a side note, I am vaguely disturbed that my picture looks as though it may be just as likely that I had a halibut steak for dessert. I really need to set up a better place to take photos. Yes, I have been saying that since 2006. Oh, it’s classic A Food Year foibles all over again. What can I say? I’m not a photographer.
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 2 oranges, zested and segmented*
- 6 eggs
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees with the rack positioned in the center. Bring a kettle full of water to a boil. Have six small ramekins and a casserole dish or similar capable of holding them all at the ready.
- Dissolve half of the sugar (1 cup) with 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until the sugar becomes nicely caramelized and fragrant.
- Quickly portion the caramel into the bottom of the six ramekins, swirling them individually to coat their bottoms evenly. Allow them to cool while you prepare the custard.
- To make the custard, add the milk to the saucepan that you cooked the caramel in and return it to the heat. Bring the milk to just below boiling point while using a high resistant spatula to remove the remaining caramel from the pan and dissolving it into the milk.
- Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds with a paring knife, and add the vanilla pod and seeds, along with the orange zest, to the milk. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs with the remaining cup of sugar. Strain the milk, discarding the vanilla pod and orange zest, and slowly whisk the milk into the eggs and sugar, being careful not to curdle the eggs. This is your custard mix.
- Portion the custard mix into the ramekins. Place the ramekins inside the casserole dish and fill the dish up with the hot water, approximately halfway up the sides of the ramekins. The water bath provides a slower and more consistent heat transfer to the custards and prevents them from curdling.
- Place the casserole dish into the oven, being careful not to spill the water, and bake until the custards are set, about 30-40 minutes. When shaken, the center of the custard should jiggle like Jell-o, but there will be no noticeable liquid in the ramekins.
- Remove the ramekins from the hot water bath and cool slightly. To serve, trace a paring knife around the rim of the ramekin and invert the ramekin onto a plate. If you wish to make the dessert a day before, cool the custard to room temperature, cover the ramekins individually and place in the fridge. Remove them from the fridge at least 20 minutes before serving and then submerge the bottom of the ramekins into hot water for 10-15 seconds to dissolve the caramel before plating. Top with orange segments.
Optionally, this could be made in one large ramekin or casserole dish and then cut into slices to serve.
* To make orange segments (“supremes”) lay the orange on its side and, with a sharp chef knife, slice off the top and bottom of the orange. Set the orange on its sliced bottom to give it a flat surface and then, with your knife, carefully remove the skin and pith (the white part) following the shape of the orange. When all of the peel of the orange has been removed, carefully slide your knife between the membranes that hold the segments in place and plop them into a bowl. Check out This Video for a visual. Alternatively, say “the hell with it!” and open up a can of mandarin oranges, or omit entirely.