Creamy Caramel Custard

It's time for a caramel dessert that every pastry chef needs to know about. Crème caramel is different from crème brûlée; it has a lighter consistency and a silkier texture, but it's about the caramel before I get to the caramel. I need to make a cream base, so I break two whole eggs into a bowl and then separate the two eggs. Now I add six spoons of sugar to it, beat it a little, and now I grab my milk. Milk is the main difference between crème caramel and crème brûlée. or measure two cups, and I think 2% milk works best when most other custards are made with warm milk. The creamy caramel custard is made with cold milk, which ensures gradual baking and a silky texture. With a teaspoon of vanilla and then just a pinch of salt, mix it, and the best way for a pastry chef is to drain the cream before baking. So that each bite is silky smooth and that it sets.

I'll take this opportunity to make my caramel layer. I've got three tablespoons or thereabouts of water and this time you just need 1/2 a cup of sugar always the addition of acidity or liquid sugar so just a little squeeze of lemon juice and now I'll get this going on high heat always my brush in cool water handy and because I'm pouring this straight into my ramekins that are the base for the crème caramel I let this go to about a medium amber color so a little darker than I did with the caramel apples and there we go so you do want to work fairly quickly now and divide this between ironic ins just pouring it right into the bottom of each four in total oh I love that smell who could guess that burning something could smell so good and it doesn't take long the caramelized sugar has already set but even though it's rock solid now once it cooks with the crème caramel custard on top it liquefies the sugar underneath it and it actually allows you to remove it from the dish easily and now I just gently pour the custard over the cooled caramel try and do it slowly so you make as few air bubbles as possible now the final little trick to take your crème caramel to pro level to remove those last few air bubbles I take a paper towel and just dab them or pop them the paper towel will just pull them right away and now you are assured a silky perfect texture to your crème caramel To cook e this opportunity to make my caramel layer I've got three tablespoons or thereabouts of water and this time you just need 1/2 a cup of sugar always the addition of acidity or liquid sugar so just a little squeeze of lemon juice and now I'll get this going on high heat always my brush in cool water handy and because I'm pouring this straight into my ramekins that are the base for the crème caramel I let this go to about a medium amber color so a little darker than I did with the caramel apples and there we go so you do want to work fairly quickly now and divide this between ironic ins just pouring it right into the bottom of each four in total oh I love that smell who could guess that burning something could smell so good and it doesn't take long the caramelized sugar has already set but even though it's rock solid now once it cooks with the crème caramel custard on top it liquefies the sugar underneath it and it actually allows you to remove it from the dish easily and now I just gently pour the custard over the cooled caramel Try to do it slowly so you make as few air bubbles as possible. Now the final little trick to take your crème caramel to the next level is to remove those last few air bubbles. I take a paper towel and just dab them or pop them.

The paper towel will just pull them right away, and now you are assured of a silky, perfect texture to your crème caramel. To cook custard, you need a water bath. Emery that's why I have the ramekins in this large roasting pan and the pan is actually a little bit higher than the ramekins themselves so let me take these over carefully to my stove and I have a tea kettle with boiling hot water and I'm going to fill the roasting pan halfway up it's actually the gentle heat of the steam and the water itself it almost insulates and protects the custard as it cooks it at the same time I've preheated the oven to 300 degrees a low oven for that gentle slow cooking and the last step before these get baked is to actually cover the entire dish that way it holds in the heat the crème caramel take 30 to 35 minutes to bake and I check the doneness not by jiggling the ramekin but I insert a skewer in the Centre of the custard if it comes out clean then I know the custards done and I can't wait for you to see them once they've chilled and I can turn one out on a plate to show that beautiful caramel sauce and here are those beautiful crème caramel I've done my skewer test so I know they're fully cooked and before I can get to making this spectacular garnish I want to take them out of the water bath just so they stop cooking now here is a great tool it is a jar lifter that you use for lifting canning jars out of your pot the rubber coating makes it so easy to grip on to the ramekins to pull them out of the water now these have to cool to room temperature before I pop them in the fridge to chill for a good three to four hours but I have time right now to make these caramel hazelnut spikes these are actually single hazelnuts dipped in caramel and left to hang so each gets a spike or almost like an icicle of caramelized sugar so I have individual toasted and peeled hazelnuts and this may sound strange you have to stick a toothpick inside each one now a hazelnut kind of has a natural heart shape to it so you want the point at the bottom and not at the seam of the hazelnuts but on the side you just lightly Pierce the hazelnut now to make a batch of caramel. Just a couple tablespoons of water and half a cup of sugar, and this time I'm adding a little corn syrup to keep the sugar liquefied as I'm cooking it but also to help elongate that spike after I dip the hazelnut in the caramelized sugar. High heat, uncovered, no stirring. You know all the rules. My goodness, if you could count the kilos of sugar I've caramelized, you could definitely fill this kitchen a few times over. Now my sugar is almost fully caramelized, and I need to halt the cooking soon.

When I take it off the heat so I have a nice bath ready, I drop the pot into a metal bowl filled with ice water, and it immediately stops the caramelization to the perfect level and at the same time thickens the caramel before you start dipping. Your hazelnuts, you want to take a piece of steering and lift it up, and the height is to build the length of your hazelnut spikes, and now I want to work with it until it's warm and take each hazelnut that has a little heart point at the bottom. Halfway through, we go, and you want to attract that drop to you and then pass it. Just let it hang in the sauce and be careful not to submerge the toothpick, because then it's really set in the hazelnut. Don't worry about the little threads and ribbons of caramelized sugar; you'll see that you can cut them off after it's all cooled. So now the idea is, when it's set, take it off at that point, pull out a toothpick, and you've got this crazy small decoration. You can put almost anything you could put on a slice of cake.

It's hard, but you can prepare them in advance and store them in an airtight container. But don't put the caramelized hazelnuts in the fridge because the sugar will turn into syrup. And now it's time for the toffee plate. The toffee is really refreshing and satisfying as a dessert that you want to serve ice cold, so let it chill for at least three to four hours. small palette knife I just roll my palette knife around the plate, and you get this caramel syrup out, and on top of the caramel layer, you see this beautiful sweet syrup with some decorations. Oh, sweet, and who would have thought you could do so many things? caramel, silky satin, perfect.