Dulce de Leche Creme Brulee and Flan
Some time ago I played around with making my own dulce de leche and ended up with a couple of cups of the delicious sweet.
But what to do with it?
I still plan to make alfajores and milhojas one day but in the meantime, I thought I'd make some dulce de leche creme brulee by adapting the recipe I normally use for vanilla creme brulee or flan. Since I don't have a propane torch, I used the broiler but I was disappointed with the look of the results as the sugar did not caramelize evenly. I also made this first batch with 2% milk instead of whipping cream or a mixture of cream and milk.
Dulce de Leche Creme Brulee
So, I made a second batch of custard with whipping cream and less sugar and served it as a flan.
Dulce de Leche Flan
Dulce de Leche Creme Brulée - makes 2 cups of custard, divided into 4 x 1/2 cup or 6 x 1/3 cup portions
6 large egg yolks
2-4 tbsp sugar (reduced from 6 tbsp in the regular recipe as the dulce de is quite sweet)
1/4 cup dulce de leche, canned or home made
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
1 cup whipping cream
6 teaspoons granulated sugar (or 8-12 teaspoons packed brown sugar).
Boil 6-8 cups or a kettle full of water.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Scald the whipping cream and dulce de leche together in a small saucepan or in the microwave using a microwave safe bowl. Whisk together well to dissolve the dulce de leche.
Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a medium bowl to blend. Scrape in seeds from the vanilla bean. Gradually whisk the warm cream into the sugar. Divide mixture among custard cups or ramekins. Arrange the dishes in 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up sides of dishes.
Bake custards approximately 35-40 minutes until the custard is set. (The warmer the custard mixture, the less baking time is require. I found that 25-30 min was enough especially for the smaller custard cups. Make sure there's still some jiggle left in the center of the custard when removing from the oven. Do not overbake or your custard will be rubbery.) Remove the pan from the oven and remove custard cups from the water. Allow custards to cool before placing in the refrigerator. Chill overnight.
Two hours before serving:
Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon on sugar top of each custard. Place dishes on a small baking sheet. Broil until sugar just starts to caramelize, rotating sheet for even browning, about 2 minutes. You might want to use the 2nd shelf level from the top not right under the broiler. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Chill until caramelized sugar hardens, about 2 hours.
Flan variation:
Same ingredients as for the Creme Brulee
Optional: Oil the ramekins using unflavoured vegetable oil to help in turning out the flans.
Make caramel by melting 1/2 cup of regular white sugar, without stirring, to which 2 tablespoons of water has been added, over medium heat in a saucepan until it dissolves and then turns a golden colour. Some people like a more bitter taste so you may let it go another minute or so but do NOT burn the sugar.
Add a tbsp of the caramel to the base of each ramekin. Swirl to coat bottom evenly.
You should have enough caramel for all the ramekins if you work quickly. Getting the caramel evenly distributed over the base of the ramekin is not as important as getting the same amount of caramel into all the ramekins. A second pair of hands may help.
Pour the custard into the ramekins. Bake as for creme brulee. Cool. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the ramekin. You may dip the bottom of the ramekin in a pan of very hot/boiling water for a minute to slightly melt the caramel base before turning over the flan onto a plate with a bit of a lip to catch any liquid.
Caramel base
Unbaked custards
Baked custard, still in mold
Inside the flan
But what to do with it?
I still plan to make alfajores and milhojas one day but in the meantime, I thought I'd make some dulce de leche creme brulee by adapting the recipe I normally use for vanilla creme brulee or flan. Since I don't have a propane torch, I used the broiler but I was disappointed with the look of the results as the sugar did not caramelize evenly. I also made this first batch with 2% milk instead of whipping cream or a mixture of cream and milk.
Dulce de Leche Creme Brulee
So, I made a second batch of custard with whipping cream and less sugar and served it as a flan.
Dulce de Leche Flan
Dulce de Leche Creme Brulée - makes 2 cups of custard, divided into 4 x 1/2 cup or 6 x 1/3 cup portions
6 large egg yolks
2-4 tbsp sugar (reduced from 6 tbsp in the regular recipe as the dulce de is quite sweet)
1/4 cup dulce de leche, canned or home made
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
1 cup whipping cream
6 teaspoons granulated sugar (or 8-12 teaspoons packed brown sugar).
Boil 6-8 cups or a kettle full of water.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Scald the whipping cream and dulce de leche together in a small saucepan or in the microwave using a microwave safe bowl. Whisk together well to dissolve the dulce de leche.
Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a medium bowl to blend. Scrape in seeds from the vanilla bean. Gradually whisk the warm cream into the sugar. Divide mixture among custard cups or ramekins. Arrange the dishes in 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up sides of dishes.
Bake custards approximately 35-40 minutes until the custard is set. (The warmer the custard mixture, the less baking time is require. I found that 25-30 min was enough especially for the smaller custard cups. Make sure there's still some jiggle left in the center of the custard when removing from the oven. Do not overbake or your custard will be rubbery.) Remove the pan from the oven and remove custard cups from the water. Allow custards to cool before placing in the refrigerator. Chill overnight.
Two hours before serving:
Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon on sugar top of each custard. Place dishes on a small baking sheet. Broil until sugar just starts to caramelize, rotating sheet for even browning, about 2 minutes. You might want to use the 2nd shelf level from the top not right under the broiler. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Chill until caramelized sugar hardens, about 2 hours.
Flan variation:
Same ingredients as for the Creme Brulee
Optional: Oil the ramekins using unflavoured vegetable oil to help in turning out the flans.
Make caramel by melting 1/2 cup of regular white sugar, without stirring, to which 2 tablespoons of water has been added, over medium heat in a saucepan until it dissolves and then turns a golden colour. Some people like a more bitter taste so you may let it go another minute or so but do NOT burn the sugar.
Add a tbsp of the caramel to the base of each ramekin. Swirl to coat bottom evenly.
You should have enough caramel for all the ramekins if you work quickly. Getting the caramel evenly distributed over the base of the ramekin is not as important as getting the same amount of caramel into all the ramekins. A second pair of hands may help.
Pour the custard into the ramekins. Bake as for creme brulee. Cool. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the ramekin. You may dip the bottom of the ramekin in a pan of very hot/boiling water for a minute to slightly melt the caramel base before turning over the flan onto a plate with a bit of a lip to catch any liquid.
Caramel base
Unbaked custards
Baked custard, still in mold
Inside the flan
