Crème Brûlée
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Crème brûlée'' (; ), also known as burnt cream, Cambridge burnt cream, or Trinity cream, and virtually identical to '' crema catalana'', is a
dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...
consisting of a rich
custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...
base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
. It is normally served slightly chilled; the heat from the caramelizing process tends to warm the top of the custard, while leaving the center cool. The custard base is generally flavored with
vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...
in
French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...
, but can have other flavorings. It is sometimes garnished with fruit.


History

The earliest known recipe of a dessert called ''crème brûlée'' appears in
François Massialot François Massialot (1660, in Limoges – 1733, in Paris) was a French chef who served as ''chef de cuisine'' (''officier de bouche'') to various illustrious personages, including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV, and his so ...
's 1691
cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...
, but its ultimate origins are unclear. The recipe is based on egg yolks and milk, with a pinch of flour. Once cooked,
François Massialot François Massialot (1660, in Limoges – 1733, in Paris) was a French chef who served as ''chef de cuisine'' (''officier de bouche'') to various illustrious personages, including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV, and his so ...
specifies "that it must be sweetened on top, in addition to the sugar that is put in it: we take the shovel from the fire, very red at the same time we burn the cream, so that it takes a beautiful color of gold". Some authors mention Bartolomeo Stefani's ''Latte alla Spagnuola'' (1662) as describing ''crema catalana'', but it calls for browning the top of the custard ''before'' serving with sugar on top. The practice of browning dishes with a hot iron was already documented in La Varenne's ''Cuisinier françois'', published in 1651. La Varenne applies the process to his ''Oeufs au laict ic' 'eggs with milk', ''Oeufs à la crème'' 'eggs with cream', as well as non-custard dishes such as ''oeufs au miroir de cresme'' 'fried eggs in cream', ''ramequin de fromage'' 'cheese toast', and ''ramequin de roignon'' 'kidney ramequin'. But none of these had a layer of hard caramel on top. The name "burnt cream" was later used to refer to the dish in the 1702 English translation of Massialot's '. In 1740, he referred to a similar recipe as ''crême à l'Angloise'', or 'English cream', which further cast doubt on its origins. The dessert was introduced at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, in 1879 as "Trinity Cream" or "Cambridge burnt cream", with the college arms "impressed on top of the cream with a
branding iron A branding iron is used for livestock branding, branding, pressing a heated metal shape against an object or livestock with the intention of leaving an identifying mark. History The history of branding is very much tied to the history of using ...
". ''Crème brûlée'' was generally uncommon in both French and English cookbooks of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It became extremely popular in the 1980s, "a symbol of that decade's self-indulgence and the darling of the restaurant boom", probably popularised by Sirio Maccioni at his New York restaurant '' Le Cirque''. He claimed to have made it "the most famous and by far the most popular dessert in restaurants from Paris to Peoria". It also spread from France to other parts in Asia.


Technique

''Crème brûlée'' is usually served in individual
ramekin A ramekin (, ; also spelled ramequin) is a small dish used for culinary purposes. Name The term is derived from the French ', a cheese- or meat-based dish baked in a small mould. The French term is in turn derived from early modern Dutch ', ...
s. Discs of caramel may be prepared separately and put on top just before serving, or the caramel may be formed directly on top of the custard immediately before serving. To do this, sugar is sprinkled onto the custard, then caramelized under a red-hot
salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...
(a cast-iron disk with a long wooden handle) or with a butane torch. There are two methods for making the custard. The more common creates a "hot" custard by whisking egg yolks in a double boiler with sugar and incorporating the cream, adding vanilla once the custard is removed from the heat. Alternatively, the egg yolk/sugar mixture can be tempered with hot cream, then adding vanilla at the end. In the "cold" method, the egg yolks and sugar are whisked together until the mixture reaches the ribbon stage. Then, cold heavy cream is whisked into the yolk mixture, followed by the vanilla. It is then poured into ramekins and baked in a
bain-marie A bain-marie ( , ), also known as a water bath or double boiler, a type of heated bath, is a piece of equipment used in science, Industry (manufacturing), industry, and cooking to heat materials gently or to keep materials warm over a period of ...
.


See also

*
Crème caramel Crème caramel (), flan, caramel pudding, condensed milk pudding, or caramel custard is a custard dessert with a layer of clear caramel sauce. History Custard has a long documented history, but crème caramel or flan in its modern form, with sof ...
, also known as ''flan'' (not to be confused with the English flan) * List of custard desserts *
List of French desserts This is a list of desserts from the French cuisine. In France, a chef who prepares desserts and pastry, pastries is called a Pastry chef, pâtissier, who is part of a kitchen hierarchy in French cuisine termed ''brigade de cuisine'' (kitchen staff ...
* List of British desserts * List of Spanish desserts


Citations


Notes


General and cited references

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Creme Brulee Custard desserts French desserts British desserts Spanish desserts