How to Make Creme Brulee

Host: Hey welcome to Le Gourmet TV. We here with Dominique and Cindy Duby authors of 'Crème Brule'. Dominique: Yes I have books Host: So, How many others books have you got? Dominique: This actually our third one. Our publisher asked us to write us a new series of book that are single topics that are a little bit more for the home chefs, it is a little bit less complicated because the other one had a lot more of recipes and steps in the finish dish. So, these ones are all of them have very simple four or five ingredients, very simple decor and this one is the simplest of them all, classic Crème Brule. Cindy: It is very-very easy to make. So, you can cut my egg for me. Dominique: yes of course I can. Yes there. Cindy: He is little slow so you'll... Host: So, you know when this book arrives on the first read through, I'm looking through it and thinking, I had never thought to put some those ingredients in a Crème Brule. Cindy: Yeah! I think that was one of the challenges and one of the things that we wanted do is to bring something different. There is a few Crème Brule books out there but we want to bring our own twist on the book, on all the ingredients that we use. So actually sorry this is the yolk and he is just going to add the sugar in. Dominique: Once you add the sugar one of the tricks or tips that you want to make sure that you are as soon as you have the you want to mix the sugar and yolk as soon as possible because what happen is sort of a chemical reaction that occurs between the yolk and the sugar and it creates insoluble particles and you can cook it you can do whatever you want, it is always going to stay hard. So, you all need to stirring it. So, if you can mix it right away that doesn't happen. Cindy: And the idea is also say that when you are make a Crème Brule, you know how you get many recipes, you mix yolks in a vessel you whip it till they are light and fluffy? Well in this you just want to mix till its combine because you don't want to add anymore air in to it. You want the Crème Brule to be, will be very dense. Dominique: You want to get dense not a Soufflé texture like. This one is a fresh vanilla bean she is talking to cut in half, and the part of it that you want is the inside which I believe are these little pods and this tiny little seeds like, so a little caviar of vanilla, if you want to call it that way. Cindy: And then next is the cream. So you are just going to add the cream in and just mix it until combined. Host: That's heavy cream? Cindy: That's heavy cream! Dominique: There are recipes in our book they called for different type of a liquid and some of those will might actually fruit juices or vegetable juice where one that is carrot and cardamom that has no little amount of other ingredients or liquid. We typically prefer to use whipping cream because it gives more dense. Crème Brule is not a diet item. So, don't worry about the... calories Cindy: The calories! Host: Well that is it. It is a special occasion that you have once in a while. So, why not do it up and do it up Dominique: That's right! The whole thing about eating any kind of desserts is that it is not the way you to have your daily intake of vitamins and minerals, it is all about pleasure. So, if you are worrying about your amount of the calorie than just eat less of them Cindy: That's often Host: everything in moderation! Dominique: Use a baking pan or try so that you can actually bake this off and proof obviously; and the type of dish, ceramic type dish you have something that is a little bit more shallow because the more the taller the container is the longer is going to bake and the more chance you have the arti will be curdled. So, the shallower the container the better that would be and fill it up to the height that you wants three quarter to... Cindy: Two thirds! Dominique: ...two thirds of the height. So, with magic of television we have finished the Crème Brule Host: So, you didn't bake it at all? Cindy and Dominique: No! Host: like that was just... Cindy: And this is so great that you may just to make the day before so, you are not stressed out on the day of your dinner party. You can make as you want and you just leave in the fridge for even two days Dominique: These ones here are actually quite cold so they were made the day before and what you want to do for the sugaring part of it to make it as easy and as even as possible is put a lot it on the top and the just tap it so, you may sure that the sugar goes all the way up to the edges so that the whole Crème Brule portion of it is completely covered with sugar. Then you dump the excess because you want this to be as thin as possible so you want have a contrast of a thin crunchy sugar on the top and very soft cold cream on cream on the bottom. Host: I think that's a mistake that lot of people make is to much sugar on the... Cindy: Yeah! And sometimes you break into, you know Crème Brule and it is like quarter of an inch thick and it is... you just can't eat that. Dominique: And this is what we call short live versus long live textures. So what you want to have is the caramel and the cream to disappear in most equally in our mouth. So, when you are putting the crème and sugar you have that little crunch and then it starts dissolve with the moisture of the cream in your mouth and then you have just enough of contrast of texture and then the two mix together the flavor of the caramel and flavor of the cream and the egg and the vanilla and then you swallow and then start over it again, you are supposed to swallowing the cream and still sucking on that hot piece of candy and it doesn't seem to end; and that is a problem with a Crème Brule. So that's... and then here Cindy is doing... Cindy: And I know this is a little bit extra money but do you know, I mean you really can't put this in the oven and get the same results. I mean the Crème Brule was going to heat up the whole thing is going heat up, so it becomes too soft. Dominique: As Cindy was mentioning it does work with a broiler of an oven but you have to put a glove or something like that and stick it as close as you can underneath, So that you actually have the least amount of surface, so that the caramelization would work. So, it is possible but this is a much better option Host: So you only want to heat the sugar to caramelize it, you don't want to heat the actual Crème Brule Dominique: And Cindy was showing when you do the caramelization, you start from one point and you hold the flame at that spark until the sugar starts to turn brown that is not completely brown because otherwise you leave it too long the sugar would continue to cook and then you can't stop. So, it is burnt! So you move away when you see the colorization to come lighter brown and it automatically will continue to cook and turn to the brown that you want and then just do that all the way up to end Host: So, everybody is going to have to go out and get the book... Cindy and Dominique: Yes! Host: ...and try them all themselves. Thanks a lot guys! Thank you very much!