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Baking Expert
Catherine Christiansen
Silken Baked Custards
A story about baked custard has to open with crème brûlée. The ingredients are—sugar, cream, egg yolks and vanilla—but the result is magical. Your spoon cracks through a thin, crisp layer of golden brown caramel into creamy custard lush with vanilla. Every bite celebrates the elegant simplicity of the ingredients.
And the ingredients should be as good as you can get. Look for heavy cream that hasn’t been ultra-pasteurized; it has a richer taste and sets up like a dream. If you know someone with chickens or can get fresh eggs at a farmers’ market, their brilliant yellow yolks add another dimension to the custard. Use a real vanilla bean if at all possible; the multitude of little black seeds adds depth you can see and taste.
Cooking the custards in a bain-marie or water bath is essential. Partially submerging the ramekins in a nice hot bath ensures an even, smooth, silky texture. Remove the custards from the oven while their centers still shimmy a bit; they will set up as they cool.
Lastly, head over to the hardware store and get a good propane torch for creating the brûlée. They are more fun to use and are much more effective than those weird little dealies from the gourmet shop. When not using it for caramelizing sugar, the torch comes in handy for blackening peppers, toasting meringue and indoor s’mores. (Note: read the instruction manual thoroughly.)
This month’s second recipe offers the tongue tingling flavor of guavas, luscious cream cheese and caramel in a splendidly embellished flan. This fabulous combination was a favorite of a friend of mine who trained as a pastry chef in Florida, where the Cuban influence is everywhere. She would use guava paste and cream cheese as a filling for incredibly addictive puff pastry turnovers or guava pastillos.
You can find guava paste at most Hispanic grocery stores or order it online. It comes in a pretty big can, so you can freeze leftovers. When making the caramel, take it to a rich, dark brown, almost to burnt without going over the edge. Perfecting a good caramel is an essential skill; don’t worry if a batch or two bites the dust before you get the feel for it. Once you have your caramel, pour it into the ramekins, add the guava batter, bake it off, cool and flip the sweet splendor onto a pretty plate.
Is your spoon ready?
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