French Classics Made Easy (58 page)

I make a classic custard with 2 eggs per cup of milk. In the following recipe, I have removed two egg whites, creating a fragile yet rich-tasting custard. Although you can bake the custard in almost any size mold, I have chosen a cake pan so that the finished dessert will be no higher than 1½ inches. If you want the custard to be higher, use a deeper mold and give it added strength by including the 2 egg whites otherwise removed. The custard can be made with milk, heavy cream, or a mixture of the two, and many people serve it with whipped cream, although I find that unnecessary.

Always unmold the crème caramel just before serving, because if it’s unmolded too early, it will look dull and dry instead of shiny and bright.

SERVES 8 TO 10

T
HE
C
OLOR OF
C
ARAMEL

The color of the cooked caramel for crème caramel is very important. If it is too pale, it will have little or no flavor. If it is too dark, it will taste bitter or burnt. I cook the sugar until it is a deep amber color and is just about to smoke, and often tell students to wait until they begin seeing smoke before pouring the hot sugar into their mold. After making the dessert several times, you can determine for yourself the color required for the flavor desired.

CARAMEL

¼ cup water

½ cup (110g) sugar

2 to 3 drops lemon juice (optional, see Note)

Butter, for mold (optional)

CUSTARD

3 cups milk

⅔ cup (140g) sugar

4 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1.
Make the caramel: Place the water in a small saucepan and add the sugar. Cook, without stirring, over medium-high heat until the sugar turns amber in color, about 5 minutes.

2.
Immediately pour the caramel into an 8-inch round cake pan and, using pot holders, turn it until the bottom and sides of the pan are coated. (If you are unable to fully coat the sides of your
mold, wait for the caramel to cool and then lightly butter the sides not coated.) Set aside. (As the caramel cools, it will harden. When the pan cools, the caramel may crack. This is normal and will not affect the dessert.)

3.
Preheat the oven to 350°F with the oven rack in the lowest position.

4.
Make the custard: In a small saucepan, bring the milk and sugar to a boil over medium heat.

5.
In a bowl, whisk the 4 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks until smooth. Stirring constantly, pour the hot milk mixture slowly into the eggs. Stir in the vanilla.

6.
Place the caramel-coated cake pan in a small roasting pan, which will serve as a water bath (
bain-marie
). For a perfectly smooth custard, strain the mixture into the cake pan. Fill the roasting pan with enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan.

7.
Bake until a cake tester or toothpick placed in the center of the custard comes out clean, not milky, 25 to 30 minutes. Allow the custard to cool. Refrigerate for 2 hours or more.

8.
To serve: Unmold the custard onto a large round plate or platter just before serving. To do so, run the point of a knife around the edge of the custard to make sure that it is not stuck to the pan. Place a serving platter upside down on top of the cake pan, and while holding the two firmly together, invert quickly. Remove the cake pan and allow the caramel sauce to flow on top of the custard. Use a cake server to cut and serve the custard.

NOTE

The lemon juice slows the hardening of the sugar and gives you more time to coat the pan in step 2. If you have experience working with caramel, you can leave it out.

T
HE
E
VER
-C
HANGING
C
USTARD

Custard is one of the foundations of French dessert making. In varying proportions, it is a combination of milk or cream, eggs, and sugar. At its thinnest and most refined, it is used as a sauce, called Crème Anglaise (
page 346
). It can be served with cake, poached fruit, or as part of a meringue dessert such as Floating Island with Raspberry Sauce (
page 274
). When you freeze a crème anglaise, it becomes ice cream (see
page 290
). When you add whipped cream and gelatin to it, it becomes a rich dessert called Bavarian cream (see Marquise Alice,
page 271
, or Riz à l’Impératrice,
page 273
).

Then there are the baked custards, ranging from the simple and always satisfying Crème Caramel (facing page) to the silky and smooth
pots de crème
(see
page 270
). For most custards, but particularly for the very rich recipes such as
pots de crème,
I have reduced egg yolks, cream, and sugar where possible without destroying the satisfying nature of these desserts.

VANILLA AND COFFEE POTS DE CREME

[POTS DE CRÈME: VANILLE ET CAFÉ]

The classic recipe for
pots de crème
calls for 1 quart of heavy cream, 12 egg yolks, and about 1½ cups sugar. This is basically the same formula that is used for crème brûlée, a rich vanilla custard served with a crust of melted brown sugar. Although I enjoy these rich custards and will share one at a restaurant, I cannot, in good conscience, make and serve anything so high in cholesterol and calories.

The following recipe is made lighter by the reduction of yolks, the addition of egg whites, and the use of milk instead of cream. I have also reduced the sugar considerably, yet it still tastes rich and delicious.

SERVES 6

P
OTS DE
C
REME:
What’s in a Name?

P
ots de crème
gets its name from the small pots this rich custard is traditionally baked and served in. These little ceramic cups with lids have a ⅓-cup capacity and were often served three per person, one each of chocolate, vanilla, and coffee. Even with my lightened custard, I find three too much to eat, and serve only two: vanilla and coffee (I omit the chocolate because it is grainy and tends to produce a dull rather than shiny surface).

3 cups milk

½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (150g) sugar

2 eggs

5 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1½ teaspoons instant coffee granules

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F with the oven rack in the lowest position.

2.
In a small saucepan, bring the milk and sugar to a boil over medium heat.

3.
In a bowl, whisk the whole eggs and yolks together lightly. Stirring constantly, pour the
hot milk-and-sugar mixture slowly into the eggs. Stir in the vanilla.

4.
Divide the custard into 2 equal portions. Add the coffee to one portion and stir until dissolved.

5.
For a perfectly smooth custard, strain the mixtures into 6 small
pot de crème
“pots” or ½-cup ramekins. Be sure that all of the foam is spooned from the top of each.

6.
Place the
pots
into a roasting pan. Add boiling water to the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the
pots.
Bake until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the custard comes out dry or clean, 20 to 30 minutes. Do not let the custard boil. If the custard begins to puff, an indication that it is beginning to boil, remove it from the oven immediately.

7.
Allow the
pots
to cool and then refrigerate for 2 hours or more. (The custard can be made a day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

8.
Serve one vanilla and one coffee
pot
to each person.

MARQUISE ALICE

A Bavarian cream (
bavarois
) is a molded dessert made from a crème anglaise base to which gelatin and whipped cream are added. A
marquise Alice
is a praline-flavored Bavarian cream with kirsch-moistened ladyfingers buried in the center. The unmolded cream is traditionally covered with whipped cream and decorated with currant jelly.

Although the white-covered Bavarian cream with its deep red decoration is most attractive, I have saved calories by simply serving the unmolded, undecorated dessert surrounded by a band of currant jelly. You can also use small metal molds to make individual servings.

SERVES 6 to 8

Kirsch

4 to 6 Ladyfingers (
page 259
) or store-bought ladyfingers

Crème Anglaise (
page 346
), hot

1 envelope unflavored gelatin softened in ¼ cup cold water

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 rounded tablespoons (50g) Praline Paste (
page 356
)

¾ cup heavy cream

½ cup red currant jelly

2 teaspoons water

1.
Sprinkle enough kirsch over the ladyfingers to moisten them.

2.
Place the hot crème anglaise in a medium-size metal bowl and add the softened gelatin, vanilla, and praline paste.

3.
Set the bowl in a larger bowl of ice and water (see “Over Ice,” below) and stir until cool to the touch, being sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Remove the custard from the ice.

4.
In another bowl, set in the ice and water, beat the cream until stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the cooled custard. (This is now a Bavarian cream.) Place the bowl containing the Bavarian cream over the ice and continue folding until the mixture is thick and smooth.

5.
Pour half of this mixture into an 8-inch round cake pan. Make a layer of ladyfingers, placing them no closer than ¼ inch from the edge. Cover the ladyfingers with the remaining Bavarian cream. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before unmolding.

6.
In a small saucepan, melt the currant jelly and water over low heat. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, and add 2 teaspoons kirsch. Allow to cool at room temperature, yet remain liquid.

7.
To unmold: Run the point of a knife around the custard and dip the mold into hot water for 5 to 10 seconds. Place a chilled cake platter upside down over the cake pan. Holding the pan and platter together, invert. Remove the cake pan. If the dessert does not unmold easily after one or two immersions in hot water, give both the plate and the mold a firm downward shake. (This can be done several hours before serving. Keep refrigerated.)

8.
Just before serving, spoon the currant jelly onto the platter around the dessert.

“O
VER
I
CE”:
Controlling the Cooling Process

Stirring mixtures “over ice” is an extremely useful technique. It is used when working with gelatin in order to speed up the jelling process and at the same time give you control over it so it doesn’t jell too much (which might happen if you leave the gelatin mixture in the refrigerator). You can also use it any time you want to cool down a hot mixture quickly.

To cool things over ice, place the saucepan or a metal or glass bowl containing the mixture in question in a larger bowl filled with ice and a little water. The water is needed in order to completely surround the saucepan or bowl with cold. If you are cooling a hot mixture or thickening a gelatin mixture, you must stir it, which both speeds up the cooling process and, in the case of gelatin, prevents uneven jelling.