Cherry Creme Brulee : Free and Easy Bake-Along #22 - Theme : Creme Brulee

Time for another Bake-Along, how time flies when one is having a good time making yummy desserts! For this round of Bake-Along, we are baking based on a theme and I have chosen "Creme Brulee". Why Creme Brulee? Because if has been on my list-of-to-do for ages and also I have noticed that I have not seen any of my baking friends at Bake-Along  made any Creme Brulee, which I'm sure that at one time or another, the thought of making Creme Brulee does cross their mind. wink! 

I have several recipes for creme brulee, thought of making a chocolate flavour, but decided to select this because it has brandy! wink again! Though I do not take brandy as it is, I love liquor in desserts! Sounds even wonderful with cherries, even though canned cherries are used here.

The canned cherries are drained and soaked in brandy for 2 hours, drained and the liquid is retained to be added into the custard later. The cherries are divided into ramekin cups, the custard is cooked as per instructions in the recipe and poured over the cherries. Next, the ramekins are placed in a baking dish filled with hot water, to come up halfway sides of ramekins. These are baked for about 35 minutes until the custard has just set in the centre. Remove ramekin, leave to cool and refrigerate overnight, covered.

Just before serving, push about 1 tablespoon of brown sugar through a sieve on top of custard. I just sprinkled them over, just make sure that the sugar are not in lumps. Since I do not have a kitchen torch, I broil the custard under the griller in my oven for a couple of minutes, turning the tray after a few minutes to make sure they are browning evenly. And magic!  the custard now looks like Creme Brulee!!  hehe! I did it! Another item off my list and it looks yummy!

It's time for some yummy test! Overall rating : Delicious! There is no eggy smell at all, it is silky smooth, soft and a pleasure to eat with the hidden treasure at the bottom. The top sugary crust is really yum, a slight crunch against the soft custard, delightful!

A definite hit with my family!

Yummmmy!!

I could not wait to see my baking friends' Creme Brulee, think of all the different flavours that everyone will be making! Please visit my two baking buddies Lena, Frozen Wings and Zoe, Bake For Happy Kids and other baking friends who has baked along with us at the linky below. If you would like to join our Bake-Along, simply make some delicious Creme Brulee and link your post in the linky below. 

For our next bake-along, we shall be baking Honey and Walnut Cake from Cake Keeper Cakes, page 54. If you do not own this book, you may bake any cake as long as it has honey and walnuts, and join us in the linky on 4th May which will stay open right up to 10th May. See you!

Cherry Creme Brulee
(adapted from "Bon Appetit Desserts" by Barbara Fairchild)
20 canned pitted sweet cherries, drained, halved
8 tablespoons sugar, divided (I use 6 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons kirsch (clear cherry brandy) or other brandy
1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup milk

6 large egg yolks (I use yolks from medium eggs)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

Combine cherries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and kirsch in a small bowl. Let cherries soak 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 325F. Drain cherries, reserving liquid. Divide cherries evenly among four 1-cup ramekins. Bring cream and milk to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk egg yolks and remaining 6 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot cream mixture. Stir in reserved cherry soaking liquid and vanilla. Divide mixture among ramekins. Place ramekins in large shallow baking dish. Add enough hot water to baking dish to come halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake until custards are just set in center, about 35 minutes. Remove custards from water and cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Do Ahead : Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.

Press  1 tablespoon brown sugar through sieve over each custard. Using kitchen torch, melt sugar until deep amber color. (Alternatively, use broiler. Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet. Broil until sugar melts and is deep amber colour, turning baking sheet for even browning and watching closely to avoid burning, about 3 minutes). Serve immediately.

To join this blog-hop, get the code, click on the link :
get the InLinkz code

JO's Bacon and Mushroom Cream

I cooked this a couple of weeks ago when my daughter requested for some pasta with creamy sauce. This recipe, from "Jamie's Food Revolution" immediately came to mind as I have been meaning to make this for quite some time. A simple recipe which does not call for a long list of ingredients and quick to put together. Jamie uses Portebello mushrooms, but I used a mixture of fresh Shiitake mushrooms and Oyster mushrooms. 

Bacon makes everything tastes better! I sauteed the garlic and the bacon together, even though garlic is not used in the recipe, but I like the aroma of stir-fried garlic, especially with the bacon, smells even nicer! This recipe does not use any other liquid other than cream fraiche or heavy cream. But since I intend to have this together with pasta, I added in about 1-1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock and additional cream for gravy. It's all up to individual taste, I did not follow the measurements exactly, just taste and adjust as you cook.

These mushrooms would release a little of their own juices during cooking. 

A bowl of creamy Bacon and Mushroom Cream is good on its own. 

This would be lovely with some homemade crusty bread!

Bacon and Mushroom Cream with spaghetti. My kids enjoyed this for their afternoon lunch.

I'm sharing this with :

Cookbook Sundays hosted by Couscous & Consciousness

Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Bacon and Mushroom Cream
(adapted from "Jamie's Food Revolution" by Jamie Oliver)
olive oil
4 slices of smoked bacon, preferably free-range or organic
1/2 -1 fresh red chile, to your taste
1/2 pound portobello mushrooms
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
sea salt and freshly grated ground black pepper
1/3 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream
1-1/2 cup chicken stock (my addition)


Put a large pan on a medium heat and add a good lug of olive oil. 
Slice the bacon into small pieces and add to the pan.
Fry for a couple of minutes until golden  and crispy.
While the bacon is cooking, seed and finely slice the chile, thinly slice the mushroom, and pick the thyme leaves off the stalks.
Add the chile, mushrooms, and thyme leaves and continue to fry for a couple of minutes. 
Season carefully with salt and pepper.
Add the creme fraiche, bring the sauce to a boil, and let it bubble and simmer for a minute or so.
Serve  hot, to top a piece of fish, like skate, or with some roast chicken, or stir into hot cooked pasta.

Chillied Peanuts and Pumpkin Seeds

I Heart Cooking Clubs is currently cooking from Rick Bayless recipes every week for the next six whole months, starting from this week, with a different theme each week. Ever heard of Rick Bayless? I did, but have never tried his recipes before. I have always wanted to try Mexican food, but some ingredients is not easily available over here. Looks like I do have to substitute certain ingredients, I'm sure it would not be the same, but hopefully close enough. I will try to join in as often as I can.

For this week, the theme is Bienvenido Rick! (Welcome to IHCC Rick Bayless!) anyone is welcome to try out any recipe of Rick Bayless's . Since I am sort of busy this week, I decided to start off with a simple snack.

I have some peanuts (lots actually!), which I wanted to clear, and this snack seems perfect. This recipe calls for roasted peanuts which so happens, I have a cup that I have roasted several weeks before. I only did half a recipe as the rest of my household are not overly fond of peanuts, so I'll be snacking on this alone. The roasted peanuts are coated with about 1 tablespoon of lime juice, and sprinkled with ancho chile powder, since I do not have ancho chili powder, I used smoked paprika chili powder instead. These nuts are then roasted in the oven for about 20 minutes at 220C, I turned the peanuts every 5 minutes, until the chili powder has formed a light crust on the nuts. Salt are then sprinkled over the nuts. Meanwhile, toast the pepita (pumpkin seeds) in a skillet over medium heat, until pumpkins have popped and plumped up. Mix the pumpkin seeds with the peanuts and leave to cool. 

Once cooled, simply enjoy these as snacks to munch on. These spicy and salty snack would go well with a glass of cold beer! I'm not a beer person but I'll be munching on these while browsing for more of Rick Bayless's recipes to try! 

If you are interested to expand your horizon in trying out Mexican food, hop over to I Heart Cooking Clubs for more details and to see other delicious creations using Rick Bayless's recipes. 

Chillied Peanuts and Pumpkin Seeds
(source from : rickbayless.com)
2 cups roasted peanuts (preferably without salt)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons ancho (or guajillo) chile powder, plus a little arbol chile powder if you like it spicy
salt
1 cup hulled pumpin (pepita) seeds

Turn on the oven to 250 degrees and position a rack in the middle. In a medium bowl, toss the peanuts with the lime juice until all have been moistened. Sprinkle evenly with chile, then toss until the chile evenly coats the nuts. Spread the nuts into a shallow layer on a baking sheet. Slide into the oven and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the chile has formed a light crust on the nuts. Remove from the oven and sprinkle generously with salt, usually about 1 teaspoon.

In a large skillet over medium, heat, toast the pumpkin seeds; spread the seeds into the skillet and, when the first one pops, stir constantly until all have popped from flat to round, about 5 minutes. Scoop on top of the peanuts, toss the two together, then scoop the mixture into a serving bowl.