Brazilian Coffee Custard Crème De Café Food

COFFEE CREAM CUSTARD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Pour milk into a 1 qt saucepan. Stir coffee into the milk & slowly bring the mixture to the boiling point.
• Meanwhile, put the eggs & egg yolks in a lrg mixing bowl & beat together thoroughly w/a wire whisk. Then beat in the cream & sugar.
• When the milk mixture reaches the boiling point, slowly pour it into the egg mixture, beating vigorously w/the whisk. Add the vanilla extract & beat again.
• Pour half of the coffee cream into a 10-in pie dish or 6-cup souffle dish. Set the dish in a shallow pan filled w/boiling water to reach halfway up the side of the dish.
• Working quickly, transfer the dish to the preheated oven & pour the rest of the coffee cream into the dish.
• Reduce the oven temp to 325°F (160°C) & bake the coffee cream for 1 1/4 hours or till a knife plunged into the center comes out clean & dry.
• Remove the dish from the oven & allow to cool to room temperature. Cover & refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours to overnite.
• NOTES: It was strongly emphasized that this dessert must be served icy cold. No other serving suggestions were included, but how could it be wrong to serve in goblets w/a sprinkle of choc shavings? NOT!

COFFEE-CARDAMOM POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• Put the coffee beans and cardamom pods in the work bowl of a food processor and pulse on and off several times to roughly chop -- not grind -- them. Turn the chopped beans and pods into a medium saucepan and add 1/2 cup of the sugar. Put the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sugar starts to melt. Once the sugar has melted, continue to cook, still stirring without stop, until the sugar caramelizes -- you want the color of the caramel to be deep amber, almost mahogany. Now, standing away from the stove so you don't get splattered, slowly pour in 1 cup of the cream and the milk. Don't panic -- the caramel will immediately seize and harden, but it will all smooth out as the liquids warm and the sugar melts again. Bring the mixture to a boil and, when the sugar has melted and everything is smooth again, pull the pan from the heat. Cover the pan (we do this with plastic wrap at the cafe to get a good seal) and allow the mixture to infuse for 20 minutes.
• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Working in a bowl that's large enough to hold all the ingredients, whisk the yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar together until the mixture is pale and thick. Strain the coffee-cardamom liquid into a measuring cup (discard the beans and pods) and add enough heavy cream to bring the liquid up to 2 cups. Very gradually and very gently -- you don't want to create air bubbles -- whisk the liquid into the egg mixture; skim off the top foam, if there is any.
• Arrange six 4-ounce espresso or custard cups in a small roasting pan, leaving an even amount of space between them, and fill each cup nearly to the top with the custard mixture. Carefully slide the pan into the oven; then, using a pitcher, fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the espresso cups. Cover the pan with plastic wrap (don't worry -- it can stand the heat) and poke two holes in two opposite corners. Bake the custards for about 40 minutes, or until the edges darken ever so slightly and the custards are set but still jiggle a little in the center when you shake them gently.
• Remove the pan from the oven and let the custards sit in the water bath for 10 minutes. Peel off the plastic wrap, lift the cups out of the water, and cool the custards in the refrigerator. (The pots de creme can be prepared a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator; when they are cool, cover them with plastic wrap.)
• To serve: The pots de creme are at their best at room temperature, so remove them from the refrigerator and keep them on the counter for about 20 minutes before serving.
• To drink: A deluxe cream sherry, perhaps a Pedro Ximenez

BRAZILIAN COFFEE CUSTARD (CRèME DE CAFé)

Steps:

• Set oven to 325°F.
• Combine the milk, vanilla bean and coffee beans in a sauce pan. Bring rapidly to a boil, then remove pan from heat.
• Stir in the strong coffee. Reserve.
• In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, then gradually blend in the sugar and cornstarch. Mix well.
• Strain the cooled milk, a little at a time, through a fine sieve lined with cheesecloth into the egg and sugar mixture.
• Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish or into individual ovenproof custard cups.
• Cover the baking dish, set in a pan of hot and bake until a knife inserted into the center of the custard comes out clean, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Cool custard to room temperature, then chill until needed. Before serving, run a knife around the inside edge of the baking dish and invert custard onto a serving dish. Serves 4.
• Larousse Treasury of Country Cooking.

COFFEE CRèME BRûLéE

Steps:

• Place eight 3/4-cup custard cups in large roasting pan. Combine cream, 1 cup sugar, ground espresso beans, instant espresso powder and cinnamon stick in heavy large saucepan. Using small sharp knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into mixture; add bean. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar and espresso powder dissolve. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand 30 minutes. Strain through fine sieve.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Whisk egg yolks and egg in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in cream mixture. Divide among custard cups in pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of custard cups. Bake custards until center moves only slightly when cups are gently shaken, about 55 minutes. Remove custards from pan. Cool; refrigerate uncovered overnight.
• Preheat broiler. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over each custard. Place custard cups on baking sheet. Broil until sugar is brown and caramelized, rotating baking sheet to broil evenly and watching closely to avoid burning, 1 to 2 minutes. Chill custards 1 hour. Serve.