Steamed Crème Caramel (Classic Vanilla)

Steamed Crème Caramel (Classic Vanilla): my first attempt! -apologies for the iPhone snap-

For my first post I'd to share with you my recipe for steamed crème caramel!

This is the perfect midweek recipe, as the ingredients will hopefully be lying in wait in your pantry and fridge!

Crème caramel is a sweet egg-based dessert whose origins lie in France. This dessert can be served either warm or cold - I prefer mine chilled in the fridge over night! Since the egg-based mixture is steamed, the crème caramel sets and is ready to eat as soon as it is cooked for a warm, silky smooth dessert. Chilling overnight allows for the dessert to become firmer and absorb more of the caramel, creating the distinct dark top seen on crème caramel desserts.

This was my first attempt...not involving a microwave (I tried a recipe for 'microwave oven custard pudding' by Ochikeron on YouTube). The microwave recipe turned out fine, except I found that I had to cook the dessert for longer than specified in Ochikeron's recipe and had to keep on checking on it to make sure that it wasn't over cooking and creating bubbles. I had a couple of ramekins that turned out bubbly crème caramels and a couple that were under-cooked - all were cooking at the same time. It might've been heat inconsistencies in my more-than-a-decade-old-microwave-oven, but that method left me pretty disappointed. I did, however, pick up a couple of tips from Ochikeron for making my caramel. As per her recipe, I made my caramel in the microwave - I probably could've done it in a pan but since I was dividing the caramel amongst 8 ramekins I thought I'd just do it in the microwave.

I actually preferred the steamed version of this dessert compared to the oven baked bain-marie versions I've had previously because I feel like it gives a much smoother, creamier texture and to me (a novice cook) baking in a bain-marie is much like steaming - so why not steam it?



Let's get on to the recipe itself. This is actually my mum's recipe which she oven baked. So if you prefer to bake it or don't have access to a steamer the recipe will work out perfectly fine too!
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Steamed Crème Caramel (Classic Vanilla)

Ingredients (caramel):

          4 tbsp. sugar
          4 tbsp. water
          2 tbsp. warm water (to stop cooking process)

Ingredients (crème):

          5 tbsp. sugar
          1 tsp. vanilla essence
          2 cups (1/2 litre) milk (I used skimmed milk)
          2 whole eggs (I used free range organic eggs, but any will work fine)
          4 egg yolks

Method:

1. To make the caramel, microwave equal amounts of sugar and water for 2-3 minutes. Remove from microwave and add remaining water to stop caramel from browning further
2. Divide caramel between ramekins and set aside
3. In a medium bowl, whisk to break the eggs
4. Over the medium-low heat dissolve sugar and vanilla into milk. Heat until only just dissolved not boiling
5. Slowly pour milk mixture into eggs while continuously whisking
6. Strain mixture into ramekins
7. Place in steamer and steam for half the time with the lid on and the remaining with the lid off to prevent too high heat causing bubbles to form in the dessert
8. Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve

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This recipe yields such a smooth and creamy dessert even using skimmed milk (which is a bonus in my books!) whilst maintaining the integrity of the dessert in not making it taste like you're missing out on aspects of a crème caramel you'd be used to having been made with full-fat milk. It's sweet but not a too-sweet dessert that you'd want to enjoy with a cup of tea or need a gulp of water to properly enjoy. Next time I make this I think I'll make a little extra caramel for each crème caramel, as I'd like a little more of a bitter flavour for the dessert, but otherwise I think it's quite a foolproof recipe! If I mastered it on first attempt then anyone can!

This recipe can also be modified to create different flavoured crème caramels. As long as you don't alter the quantity of milk you can infuse the milk with any flavours such as replacing the vanilla with flavoured liqueur or coffee to make a coffee crème caramel! (That might just be my next experiment! Hopefully my family doesn't get sick of them too quickly!)

In Vietnam, creme caramel is called bánh flan (both the dessert and the use of the letter 'f' are remnants of French colonisation) and the dessert can be found served with coffee poured over the top as a bitter sauce to cut through the sweetness, similar to the bitterness of the caramel.

I'd love to see your versions of my recipes if you try them! Feel free to send them through to my email address; on Instagram with the tag (@unadornedeats) and/or hash-tag (#unadornedeats); or attach them to a comment below!

Love and luck in your cooking!

- Unadorned Eats