Anybody said crème caramel?

Join Carla, food director at Bon Appètit as she makes coffee crème caramel. Yes, it’s crème caramel, but coffee flavored. Flan. Cooked custard. Coffee. And yes. Again.

Her inspiration for this delicious dessert is Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream mixed with burned caramel. Yumm.

Ingredients
2 + 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup coffee beans, coarsely chopped
1 wide strip of lemon zest
1/2 cup plus 2/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
6 large eggs

For more instructions visit Coffee Crème Caramel (on Bon Appètit).

A quick tip. In order to get that rich, creamy, barely set consistency, baking the crème caramel in a water bath is essential. Furthermore, lemon juice can help keep your caramel from crystallizing.

How about a delicious mulberry pudding from the 18th century?

Inspired by a viewer’s email about mulberries being in season, Townsends takes on the challenge to bake a recipe from Hannah Glasse’s classic cookbook, The Art of Cookery.

We start with a simple pie crust. The dough is made with a flour-to-butter ratio of 1:3. The butter is rubbed into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. Cold water is then added to bring everything together to form a ball.

The dough is shaped into a bowl and placed inside a boiled and floured cloth. This ensures the pudding releases easily after cooking.

Enough mulberries are added to the dough bowl to comfortably close it up. The amount of berries will depend on the size of your dough ball. The tied-up pudding is then boiled for 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the size.

After boiling, the pudding is dipped in cool water to solidify the outer shell. The top is cut open, and butter and sugar are added.

This delightful pudding is described as a “cobbler in a ball,” with the berries being perfectly cooked and the crust similar to a cobbler topping. The pudding is cut into slices for serving, with each portion containing a bit of the crust and some of the delicious berry filling.

Still reading?

Have you ever dreamt of creating those flaky, airy pastries that grace the shelves of French bakeries?

Whether you’re a seasoned baker or a complete beginner, Chef Bruno Albouze breaks down the process into manageable steps and offers valuable insights and techniques for mastering the art of puff pastry.

Grab your rolling pin and fold that dough!

Unlike commercially produced ice cream, gelato boasts a denser texture, a richer flavor, and a focus on using fresh, high-quality ingredients.

Milk, eggs, and sugar. That’s all you need for making true gelato. And yet, finding this simplicity in Italy may not be as easy as you may think.

Today is all about creating two delightful French desserts: crème renversée au caramel (caramel custard) and apple custard. Both are baked in a mold and coated in a beautiful brown caramel topping.

The key ingredient is, of course, caramel. Julia explains how to make caramel by heating sugar until it reaches a dark brown color. You can use a candy thermometer or the traditional method of constantly checking for the right consistency. Once the caramel is ready, you can line your molds with it.

For the crème renversée au caramel, you’ll need eggs, milk, and some rum. Or maybe you prefer vanilla extract.

To make the apple custard you’ll bake sliced apples with lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, and butter. The apples are then folded into a custard mixture and poured into the caramel-lined mold.

Both custards are baked in the oven until set. Caramel custard is a delicate dessert with a silky smooth texture, while the apple custard has a slightly firmer consistency with chunks of tender apples.

Julia also makes candied nuts with the leftover caramel. These can be enjoyed on their own or crumbled over the custards for more texture and deep flavor.