So this week's Tuesdays with Dorie was supposed to be a Chocolate Cream Tart as chosen by Kim of Scrumptious Photography. But, as I read the P&Q section, Katya of Second Dinner suggested that the pastry cream used in the pie made excellent ice cream. And, as my ice cream maker was feeling a bit left out lately, I decided it was time to let it shine! It didn't hurt that I was saving myself the calories from the pie crust and whipped cream topping either...
Well, in any case, Katya was right! This makes the most fantastic chocolate ice cream I've ever tasted. A little caramel drizzled in at the last minutes of churning also adds a little "je ne sais quoi"... Really makes this a special treat! So if you're in the mood for something easy, chocolaty, creamy and cold, go for the ice cream. If you're looking for something a little more dressed up and classy, check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers for Chocolate Cream Tarts galore. Have fun today!
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.
Crème brûlée. Just saying those words makes me happy. Cool, creamy custard hiding underneath a thin, crunchy coat of caramelized sugar. Yes, Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake chose the recipe that I (and most probably many others) had been wanting to make for such a long time. Tuesdays with Dorie members this week have been playing with fire and I for one can tell you, it sure won't be the last time!
This was the perfect excuse for me to get the kitchen gadget I had always wanted but had, until now, been able to tell myself I didn't really need it. A kitchen torch. And yes, I did get a cute little torch, especially made for the kitchen because I was just too much of a sissy to get a real one! Yes, I like to play with fire but it still kinda scares me, OK? OK. So, with my brand new torch in hand, I made the custards. Easy peasy. They baked a little longer than specified and the recipe made a little less than I thought but I'll tell you, once I had cooled my custrards, sprinkled them with sugar and fired up my torch, I couldn't care less about those little problems! I had so much fun, I could make these everyday! If I could get around the fact that they're made with heavy cream, sugar and lots of egg yolks, that is.
I tried 2 kinds of sugars for the caramel. Demerara sugar and regular granulated sugar. The demerara sugar makes for a nicer looking crust (it's the one I used for the pics in this post) but the granulated sugar makes a glossier and more caramel-like crust. It also has more crunch than the demerara sugar crust. And, I used a trick I read about somewhere (I don't remember where though...) to sprinkle a really thin coat of sugar on the custard, caramelize it and then sprinkle another thin coat of sugar onto the first one and caramelize it again. You get a slightly thicker crust but it doesn't get rock hard.
This dessert is quite impressive in a really easy sort of way. I like that! It was worth the new gadget, I'll certainly be using it more than I thought I might! Visit Mari for the recipe and check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll to see what the other pyromaniacs have been up to.
Well, in any case, Katya was right! This makes the most fantastic chocolate ice cream I've ever tasted. A little caramel drizzled in at the last minutes of churning also adds a little "je ne sais quoi"... Really makes this a special treat! So if you're in the mood for something easy, chocolaty, creamy and cold, go for the ice cream. If you're looking for something a little more dressed up and classy, check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers for Chocolate Cream Tarts galore. Have fun today!
