Creme Brulee

You may think Creme Brulee is a difficult dessert to make, but it is very simple, and creamy, and velvety, and delicious. The kitchen torch is also really fun to play with! I will definitely be making this again soon!

These are all the ingredients you need to make delicious creme brulee

Throw the vanilla bean and cream into a saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Once the cream is hot, remove from heat, and remove the vanilla bean and scrape out the beans or "caviar" and add the vanilla bean, and caviar back to the cream, let the cream sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally

Add the egg yolks and whole egg to a mixing bowl

Beat on high for 2-4 minutes, until egg/sugar mixture turns thick and pale yellow

Mix, mix, mix

Perfect color

Remove the vanilla bean and discard

Pour the warm cream very slowly into the egg mixture

I just love this picture with all of the vanilla beans showing

Mix until incorporated

Place a sieve over a pouring bowl

Pour cream/egg/sugar mixture through sieve

Skim as much foam off the top, and eat it if you like, I did.

Place ramekins into shallow baking dish

Pour mixture into each ramekin, filling to top

If you have leftover mixture, you can freeze it for icecream!

Pour hot water very slowly and carefully

fill to about halfway up the sides of your ramekins, very carefully place them in the oven, and bake about 30 minutes

Once they come out of the oven, transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool to room temp

Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 3-4 hours

Once chilled, sprinkle with fine bakers sugar

Using a kitchen torch, move across in very quick short strokes, never staying in one place too long

Perfect!

Enjoy the velvety smooth creaminess!

Ingredients: Serves 4-6

2 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean split
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp bakers superfine sugar for topping


Directions:

Combine heavy cream, and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan, bring to a simmer.
Remove from heat, remove vanilla bean, scrape the seeds and add back to milk mixture,
let steep 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs and sugar, mix on high 2-4 minutes, until pale yellow and thick. Slowly add the warm cream, mixing on medium until fully incorporated.

Pour the custard mixture into a pouring bowl through a fine mesh strainer or sieve, skim the foam.

Preheat your oven to 325 F
Place 4-6 ramekins into a shallow baking dish, pour mixture into ramekins, filling to the top.
Pour hot water into shallow baking dish, until it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Very carefully, place in oven and bake 25-30 minutes or until just set. Do not let it get brown.

Once set, transfer ramekins to a cooling rack and cool until room temp.
Once at room temp, wrap ramekins with plastic wrap, and place in fridge for 3-4 hours.

Once the Creme is chilled, and set, sprinkle about 1/2 a tablespoon over custard, and torch in quick even strokes, until browned. Serve immediately. Bask in the Deliciousness!

Chocolate Pistachio Bundt Cake

This cake is so deliciously moist and has such a great flavor! Its the easiest cake to make, made with just a few simple ingredients you would usually find in your fridge and pantry, I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks! One of my favorite cooking blogs. When I saw this recipe, I had to make it! I even made a chocolate ganache and sprinkled it with pistachios as she suggested, and it turned out just amazing! I would recommend making this as soon as possible, it is well worth shelling all the pistachios!

Preheat your oven to 350. Using a bundt cake pan. . .

Oil and flour, or spray your pan with baking spray with flour already in it

Using these ingredients. . .

Add them to your mixer

Yes, pistachio pudding.

Yes, orange juice.

Mix, mix, mix!

And mix. . .

Until well incorporated.

Add some leaf green gel food coloring.

Mix well

Green as a pistachio!

Pour it into your greased and floured pan

Evenly-

Ish

Saving 1/4 of your batter. . .

Pour 3/4 cup of chocolate syrup, yes chocolate syrup

Pour that into the batter

Mix

Nice and chocolaty!

Pour that right over your green batter

Evenly-

Ish. And pop it into your oven for an hour.

Open this bag, eat a few for quality control.

Shell them, try to remove excess crispy gray skins

Chop em up in your food processor, or with a knife

set aside

To make the ganache, Heat some heavy cream

Using 2/3 of this bag

Pour the semi-sweet chips into a heatproof bowl

using 4 tbsp of butt-er

Pour the heated cream into the bowl

Stir around for a minute to get things going

Scraping the sides of the bowl as needed

Whisk until well incorporated and smooth

whisk in butter, set aside and let cool

once you remove your bundt from the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes, then hold your breath flip it upside down and invert onto a cake server or flat dish

Whew!

Le Magnifique! Let it cool for 15-20 more minutes

Your ganache should have thickened up a bit

Spread it on your bundt

Sprinkle your pistachios all over

 

The more, the better!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 box White Cake Mix
1 package 3.4 Ounce Pistachio Instant Pudding Mix
1/2 cups Orange Juice
1/2 cups Water
1/2 cups Vegetable Oil
4 whole Eggs
3/4 cups Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
1/4 teaspoon leaf green gel food coloring



For the Ganache:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped or 2/3 of a 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 oz bag of pistachios, shelled and chopped

Directions:

For the Cake -

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan, or spray with floured baking spray.

In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, fitted with the beater attachment, mix the white cake mix, pudding, orange juice, oil, water, and eggs, beat for two minutes on medium-high. Add food coloring beat another 30 seconds. Pour 3/4 of the batter into the bundt pan.
Add the chocolate syrup to the remaining batter and mix well. Pour the chocolate batter on top of the pistachio batter. Place in oven, bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
cool for 10 minutes and invert (very carefully) onto a serving plate, let stand 20 minutes to cool.

For the ganache- 

Place the chopped chocolate or chips in a small heatproof bowl.  Bring the heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate Stir until well incorporated and smooth. Whisk in the butter until completely incorporated, let sit 15-20 minutes until cool and thick, spread over cooled bundt, sprinkle with pistachios and serve!