Eggless Creme Brulee

Creme Brulee is an exclusive dessert and I first came to know about it while watching Australian Masterchef . The blowtorch technique used to melt the sugar and to form the crusty top fascinated me and I was like there are certain desserts which are just not meant to be done at home. And Creme Brulee was just one such  dessert about which I could only  imagine .

But then there are some who just like to take such challenges which sound impossible at first and then making them look possible to attain . This was the feeling I got when I saw that this month Gayathri  had challenged the members of Baking Eggless  with Creme Brulee a dessert suggested by Vimalalakshmi and that too an eggless version. She had also taken pain to describe in detail how to prepare the crust at home without the blow torch method.

I obviously found  this challenge very exciting and not to be missed at any cost. The part which I most enjoyed while making this dessert was no doubt the melting of sugar. This I tried by two different techniques. First I tried heating the backside of a spoon till it turned black and then keeping it on sugar . The sugar sizzled and melted but also made the spoon sticky in the process. After heating the spoon 2 to 3 times it became totally black and it became difficult to melt the remaining sugar. So after melting sugar in 2 bowls in such a way I opted the other way.

The other way to form the crust was  to caramalize the sugar and pour a thin layer on the baked and cooled  custard. This method was very easy and the caramel formed a thin crunchy layer on the top . We all broke it with a spoon and enjoyed our Creme Brulle just the way the judges had done in Australian Masterchef Episode. Absolutely loved breaking the crunchy caramel layer on top.

Thanks Gayathri for this wonderful recipe and this amazing technique which I learnt .

Ingredients :

1 cup................................fresh cream
1 cup ..............................milk
4 tbsp...............................vanilla flavored custard powder
4 tbsp + 5 tbsp................sugar
1 tsp...............................agar agar ( veg version of gelatin )

Method :

Mix agar agar in 4 tbsp water and keep aside for 10 minutes.
Mix the custard powder in 1/4 cup milk .
Heat the remaining milk with 4 tbsp sugar.
When hot pour the milk mixed with custard powder and stir.
The mixture will thicken.
Switch off the gas and let the mixture cool.
Whip the cream till stiff and add to the cold thickened mixture.
Also add agar agar dissolved in water and beal well till everything is mixed.
Now pour this mixture in 5 to 6 bowls.
Take a deep tray and fill it 1/4 with hot water.
Keep the bowls in water and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
Let the baked custard cool down compleately.
You can keep it in fridge for 3 to 4 hours to chill.
Now sprinkle 5 tbsp sugar uniformly on top of the custard.


For the  crusty top

Method 1 :

Heat a medium spoon directly on the flame til it become very hot.
Then place it on top of sprinkled sugar .
The sugar will start sizzling and melting.
Repeat this till all the sugar melts and you get a nice crusty top.
Though in this process the spoon gets totally spoilt and black.

Method 2 :

Heat 5 tbsp sugar with 2 tbsp water .
Go on heating till the sugar caramalizes.
Pour 1 tbsp caramalized sugar on top of the baked custard.
The caramel will immediately harden forming a nice cruncy crust.



For a detailed post describing how to make the crusty sugar top without a blow torch please refer to the following post :
 http://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/2013/06/13/technique-how-to-brulee-without-broiler-or-blowtorch/