Black Licorice Creme Brulee Food

BLACK LICORICE CREME BRULEE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place eight 4-inch round flan rings (1 inch high each) on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper; set aside.
• Make the tart shells: Process flour, cocoa, granulated sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add eggs; process until dough just comes together. Shape dough into a disk; transfer to a lightly floured work surface.
• Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out eight 6-inch rounds, and fit into the flan rings. Patch cracks with leftover dough if needed. Refrigerate tart shells on baking sheet until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Prick bottoms of shells with fork tines. Bake on sheet until firm, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on wire racks.
• Make the filling: Put cream and licorice into a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring almost to a boil. Remove from heat, and stir. Cover, and let stand at room temperature 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Reheat licorice cream over medium heat. Whisk egg yolks, granulated sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk licorice cream into yolk mixture. Pour through a fine sieve into a medium bowl, pressing on solids. Pour mixture through another clean sieve into another bowl (do not press on solids), and stir in Pernod. Divide custard among tart shells. Bake on sheet until centers are just set, 14 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate tarts on sheet until cold, about 1 hour (up to overnight).
• Sift 1 teaspoon superfine sugar evenly over each tart. Hold a small handheld kitchen torch at a 90-degree angle 3 to 4 inches from surface of a tart, and move flame back and forth until sugar is caramelized and deep golden brown. Repeat with remaining tarts, and serve.

THE BEST CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees F. Line a large heavy roasting pan (a turkey roasting pan works great) with a clean kitchen towel and place 4 six-ounce ramekins on top of the towel spaced a few inches apart.
• Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Using the back of a paring knife, scrape the vanilla seeds from both halves of the pod. Add the seeds and pod to the cream. Whisk in the salt and 3 tablespoons of the sugar and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
• Vigorously whisk the yolks and 3 more tablespoons of the sugar in a large bowl until pale yellow and very thick and creamy, about 2 minutes. Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer on high speed and beat until pale yellow and very thick and creamy, about 1 minute.
• Whisking the yolks constantly, add a couple of teaspoons at a time from 1 cup of the hot cream, then increase to a steady stream until the cream is fully incorporated. (Don't pour too much hot cream at once or you'll end up with scrambled eggs.) The yolks are now tempered. Whisk the tempered yolks back into the remaining hot cream until combined. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup or medium pitcher for easier pouring; discard the vanilla pods.
• Skim the foam off the top of the custard by placing a clean paper towel on top and lightly pressing down so it touches the surface and absorbs some of the liquid. This will make for a completely smooth and silky custard. Fill the ramekins with the custard, about 3/4 cup per ramekin.
• Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins without getting any water in the custard. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake until the custard is set around the edges but still has a slight jiggle in the center, 35 to 45 minutes. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven and transfer the ramekins to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. Then refrigerate until very cold, about 3 hours.
• Just before serving, evenly spread 1 tablespoon of the sugar over the top of a custard. Hold a kitchen torch 2 inches above the surface. Starting in the center of the ramekin, move the flame in a circular motion and work your way out to the edges to caramelize the sugar. Repeat with the remaining sugar and custards.
• Alternatively, arrange a rack in the top position of the oven and heat the broiler on high. Place the ramekins on a rack set inside a baking sheet and broil until deep golden brown, 15 to 60 seconds, checking every 10 seconds.
• Freeze the custards for 5 minutes before serving (see Cook's Note).

CHOCOLATE CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Makethe creme brulee: Heat creamand 1/4 cup sugar in a smallsaucepan over medium heat,stirring, until sugar dissolvesand the cream just begins tosimmer. Add chocolate, andwhisk until melted and smooth.
• Whisk remaining 3 tablespoonssugar with the egg yolksin a medium bowl. Slowly pourcream mixture into yolk mixture,whisking constantly. Straincustard through a fine sieve.
• Pour custard into four 4-ounceramekins. Transfer ramekins toa roasting pan, and fill pan withenough boiling water to reachhalfway up the sides of ramekins.Bake until custards are justset, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes.Carefully remove from water,and let custards cool.
• Assemble the cremes brulees: Refrigerate for 1 hour. Top each with 1 tablespoon sugar. Hold asmall handheld kitchen torch at a 90-degree angle 3 to 4 inches from surface of custard. Moveflame back and forth until surface is caramelized. Alternatively, broil custards on top rack untilcaramelized, 1 to 2 minutes.

COFFEE CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Bring cream and coffee beans to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, and reduce heat to low; cook at a bare simmer 30 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a medium bowl (or use a slotted spoon to remove beans); discard beans.
• Put yolks, granulated sugar, and salt in a large bowl; whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is pale and thick. Gradually add cream in a slow, steady stream, whisking until combined. Pour steeping the coffee beans whisking the custard adding the layer of sugar through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a large glass measuring cup or pitcher; skim any foam or bubbles from surface.
• Divide custard among molds, filling them almost to the top. Place molds in a roasting pan; put pan on oven rack, and pour boiling water around molds to reach halfway up sides. Bake until custards are set around the edges but still loose in the centers, about 30 minutes.
• Let molds cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from water bath. Cover each with plastic wrap, pressing onto surface; refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
• If using a torch to caramelize custards, just before serving use a fine sieve to sift 1 tablespoon superfine sugar over each; wipe sugar from edges. Hold torch at a 90-degree angle, 3 to 4 inches from the surface of each custard, and use a steady sweeping motion to caramelize the tops until golden brown.
• If you don't have a torch, freeze custards 20 minutes before topping with sugar. Preheat broiler, and place molds on a rimmed baking sheet; surround with ice cubes. Broil, rotating sheet once, until tops are golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. If molds become warm, refrigerate custards for a few minutes before serving.

ESPRESSO CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
• In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine cream, milk, granulated sugar, and espresso. Using a spoon, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into cream mixture and whisk to combine. Add vanilla bean to saucepan and bring cream mixture to almost a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove vanilla bean and discard.
• Whisk yolks together in a large bowl. Gradually whisk cream mixture into yolks. Strain custard through a fine mesh sieve into a 4-cup glass measuring cup. Place four 5-ounce ramekins in a baking dish. Divide custard evenly between ramekins and transfer baking dish to oven. Fill baking dish with enough hot water so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until centers only move slightly when ramekins are gently shaken, about 2 hours. Remove ramekins from baking dish and let cool completely. Transfer custards to refrigerator until chilled.
• Sprinkle turbinado sugar over chilled custards. Using a small kitchen torch, torch the sugar until caramelized. Alternatively, preheat a broiler and place under broiler until sugar is caramelized. Serve immediately.

ULTIMATE CRèME BRûLéE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Sit four 175ml ramekins in a deep roasting tin at least 7.5cm deep (or a large deep cake tin), one that will enable a baking tray to sit well above the ramekins when laid across the top of the tin.
• Pour the large and small cartons of double cream into a medium pan with the milk.
• Lay the vanilla pod on a board and slice lengthways through the middle with a sharp knife to split it in two. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out all the tiny seeds into the cream mixture. Drop the vanilla pod in as well, and set aside.
• Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk for 1 min with an electric hand whisk until paler in colour and a bit fluffy.
• Put the pan with the cream on a medium heat and bring almost to the boil. As soon as you see bubbles appear round the edge, take the pan off the heat.
• Pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a wire whisk as you do so, and scraping out the seeds from the pan.
• Set a fine sieve over a large wide jug or bowl and pour the hot mixture through to strain it, encouraging any stray vanilla seeds through at the end.
• Using a big spoon, scoop off all the pale foam that is sitting on the top of the liquid (this will be several spoonfuls) and discard. Give the mixture a stir.
• Pour in enough hot water (from the tap) into the roasting tin to come about 1.5cm up the sides of the ramekins. Pour the hot cream into the ramekins so you fill them up right to the top - it's easier to spoon in the last little bit.
• Put them in the oven and lay a baking sheet over the top of the tin so it sits well above the ramekins and completely covers them, but not the whole tin, leaving a small gap at one side to allow air to circulate.
• Bake for 30-35 mins until the mixture is softly set. To check, gently sway the roasting tin and if the crème brûlées are ready, they will wobble a bit like a jelly in the middle. Don't let them get too firm.
• Lift the ramekins out of the roasting tin with oven gloves and set them on a wire rack to cool for a couple of minutes only, then put in the fridge to cool completely. This can be done overnight without affecting the texture.
• When ready to serve, wipe round the top edge of the dishes, sprinkle 1½ tsp of caster sugar over each ramekin and spread it out with the back of a spoon to completely cover.
• Spray with a little water using a fine spray (the sort you buy in a craft shop) to just dampen the sugar - then use a blow torch to caramelise it. Hold the flame just above the sugar and keep moving it round and round until caramelised. Serve when the brûlée is firm, or within an hour or two.

VANILLA CRèME BRûLéE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Put the cream, milk and vanilla pod into a pan and heat to boiling point. Cover and leave to infuse for 10 mins. Whisk the egg yolks and 3 tbsp of sugar together until pale and thick. Add the vanilla extract and pour the boiling cream onto the mixture. Stir well, then pour into two ramekins. Place the ramekins in a bain marie and cook in the oven for about 20 mins or until just set. Leave to cool.
• Heat the grill. Sprinkle the cold brûlée with a thin, even layer of sugar, and caramelise under the very hot grill (or use a blowtorch). Repeat several times until you have a golden crackling topping. Leave to cool and serve within 2 hrs with warm Almond puff pastry sticks (see below).