Tuesday, March 10, 2009

TWD - Lemon Cup Custard

This week, Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles chose Lemon Cup Custard as our Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. A simple recipe which, according to many of the bakers chiming in on the P&Q page, needed a little boost of flavor. The custard was seemingly lacking in the lemony flavor department. I decided to split the recipe in half and do one half lemon and one half orange. I added a good dose of Organic Essential Oils (from Aliksir) to the custard base, both orange and lemon, and doubled the amount of zest, but the citrusy taste was still very understated.

I decided this dessert needed a little dressing up, so I used Megan's idea and bruléed the top of a few of the custards. It was very good, but didn't add the pucker inducing citrus flavor the custards needed. So I made a little orange and lemon flavored gelatin (sorry I can't give you quantities, I totally eyeballed this part) and poured it on top of two of the custards, which I had baked in cute little, oven-proof cups.

The lemon flavor was perfect. The gelatin added just the perfect amount of sour-sweet to the silky, creamy custard. The orange was very good too, but didn't have anything really special about it, it was just, orangy.

In the end, the custard was very good all by itself, just don't go expecting anything too citrusy. Just a very good, creamy, satisfying dessert. I'll be making this again for sure, the custard base is so easy, it can be used for different flavor combinations and I can't wait to try a few. Please visit Bridget's blog for the recipe and the rest of the Tuesdays with Dorie gang for many a variation on the custard theme.


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42 comments:

spike. said...

I love your variations, nice work!

Isabelle Lambert said...

c'est l'occasion rêvée pour utiliser tes arômes :) j'en ai des nouveaux et j'ai hâte de les essayer.
Superbe présentation Lyb :)

Sara said...

I love the idea of torching the top! Adds nice contrast, I can't wait to try this one.

Anonymous said...

AH! Just two seconds ago, I was thinking, "I wonder how this would have worked out for a creme brulee"! TA-DA! Awesome job, and I love the version with the gelee on top!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a creative idea for adding more citrus flavor. I love that you kept trying things until you got a dessert you were excited about.

Stephanie said...

Great! I love what you did with the cups!

Anonymous said...

They look wonderful.

chocolatechic said...

I love the brulee topped one.

Simply beautiful.

doughmesstic said...

Full of great ideas! Nice job.

Cathy said...

So glad you enjoyed this, Lyb! I love that you bruleed it -- that can never hurt, can it? -- and that you added gelatin to boost the citrus flavor. This wasn't my favorite, but it was fun to try. Yours look really beautiful!

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

I love the bruleed top! :) That may have made it ok! :)

Amy of Sing For Your Supper said...

Beautiful! I love the sugar on top!!

-Amy
www.singforyoursupperblog.com

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos! :)

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

They are looking so good. Great pictures.

Melissa said...

Great idea to add gelatin, I bet that gave it a great flavor. They look great!

kimberly salem said...

the gelatin looks yummy and sounds like the perfect complement! glad you enjoyed it. the brulee top looks beautiful, too :)

Di said...

Neat ideas! And I like the glass ramekins and teacups that you used.

Anonymous said...

I love the creme brulee like feature on the top - yum!

TeaLady said...

Interesting addition. Gave a delightful layering affect. Very nice.

Anonymous said...

Great idea for the topping - love it. It looks fantastic. Also love your custard cups - clear! Nicely photographed - you really captured their delicious-ness!

Leslie said...

Mmm...love the topping! You're right, this is such an easy and versatile recipe!

Anonymous said...

So pretty! I have got to get a blowtorch one of these days.

vibi said...

AH! J'adore, j'adore, j'adore l'idée de la gélatine sur le dessus!

Menoum...

Moi j'ai doublé le citron en plus d'ajouter de l'huile de citron et c'était parfait, mais pour faire changement, je pense que la prochaine fois, j'essaierai ton truc! Bravo!

Anonymous said...

I love the brulee top. I'm glad they were a success for you.

Heather said...

Those pots de creme look beautiful. What a great idea to add the lemon-orange gelatin.

Heather B said...

Brulee'ing it seems to be the thing to do! I wish I would have done that! Great job!

Anonymous said...

What great ideas for subs...you really should be doing some professional photography...those photos are amazing. Thanks for sharing all your creative ideas!

Anonymous said...

so beautiful, love what you've done.

Gigi said...

i really love the idea of the gelatin on top!

Jaime said...

great idea w/the gelatin. i also did a brulee with mine :)

Unknown said...

Great ideas! I wish I'd torched mine so it had a bit more texture.

grace said...

mmm...the little burnt bits appeal to me most of all. nicely done, lyb!

Jennifer said...

The gelatin idea was genius!

I liked how easy this recipe was, but mine only came out so/so.
Jennifer

Aimée said...

Wow, your so creative!! Love anything with lemon.

Manggy said...

Hmm, I suppose on the bright side this can be the dessert to ease the citrus-skeptic slowly into the wonderful lemonness :) I love both variations, but if a tart boost is needed, then the gelatin would be the best way to go :)

Megan said...

I didn't even take my own advice - I should have bruleed the tops too! I liked this, I think I just overcooked mine. But worth trying again - especially the espresso variation.

Treehouse Chef said...

This looks delicious!

Paula & Skip said...

Looks yammy, I will certainly give it a try.

farah said...

Aren't you cleaver and creative, well done :) They look superb. I really like the idea of the brulee top. Good job!

AmyRuth said...

Lyb what a great idea to use the custard as a base. Great idea, plus the photo showing the layers is really neat. I like what you did with yours.
AmyRuth

Engineer Baker said...

Wow, that sounds fantastic! I can see how the orange one wouldn't wow you, but the lemon with lemon gelatin on top sounds delicious. Great variations!

test it comm said...

Those look good! I like the crispy layer on top.