Vanilla, to some, is synonymous with boring, plain and ordinary. To me, it is often what brings flavors together. Very rarely does a recipe let vanilla shine as the star ingredient. In the Vanilla Bean Ice Cream that Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu chose for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, it shines, shines, shines!
I haven't been blogging a lot lately (summer + 3 kids = no time for mommy) but I couldn't let this week go by without taking my ice cream maker out of the freezer. I had to wait until the last minute to make the ice cream, but I am so glad I did make it! It is THE best vanilla ice cream EVER. Period.
Don't take my word for it though, go check out Lynne's blog and get the recipe. You can also visit the ever growing number of blogs on the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll for more inspiration. I'm pretty sure a few of them might have added a few things to make vanilla even more interesting, to them. Then give your ice cream maker a workout. And when you finally get to taste THE best vanilla ice cream EVER, you won't be able to get that smile off your face. Trust me.
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.
Quite a simple recipe (if you forgo the whole food processor thing and just use a good ol' whisk) it can be made in advance as it has to chill for a bit, unless you like warm pudding, whatever floats your boat. I wanted to see the layers of the pudding so I used clear glasses, warmed up some leftover ganache I had from the Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart and let it chill before spooning the pudding on top. Then, after the pudding had a little R&R in the fridge, I whipped up a little cream, shaved a little chocolate and voilà! Perfect rainy day dessert.
My fave pudding is still the Real Butterscotch Pudding but this one is very good, especially with the chocolaty surprise at the bottom of the glass. Since the ganache sets, it gets almost truffle-like and it's a great contrast to the silky pudding. Thanks Garett for a fun pick! Visit the other Tuesdays with Dorie members for infinite variations on today's pudding!
