Black Currant Tea Crème Brûlée

Crème brûlée is a recent discovery for the boyfriend and I.  We first had it not at a bistro in Europe, but a friend's house in Wisconsin!  The friend happens to be a policeman, and he treated us to a fantastic homemade meal, but it was still rather unexpected to see him finishing a delicate French dessert with a kitchen torch.  But awesome.

Following this enjoyable experience, I took a French cooking class, and what was the dessert?  Crème brûlée, of course!  The class was great, and I learned how to make some tasty and classic things.  (Hilarious moment sidenote - The rack inside the oven was too high for the soufflé, but that wasn't clear until after it was baked and had already adhered to the top of the oven.  Whoops!)  Back to the crème brûlée.  Although this dessert seems like it would be difficult, it's really not, so why wouldn't you want to have this all the time?  (Besides the obvious waistline concern)

The boyfriend made it clear that he thought we needed more crème brûlée in our lives, so I was interested in finding some twists on the classic.  I stumbled upon David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert cookbook and found exactly what I was looking for: Black Currant Tea Crème Brûlée.  I like LOVE black currant flavor.  It's prominent in the UK, and after studying abroad in Scotland, I was hooked (to note, the purple Skittles in the UK are black currant, and not grape).  Black currant isn't a common flavor here in the US, but I have found it in tea, so I do have it on hand all the time.

One last essential before making this dessert: a kitchen torch.  I had been told that purchasing a fancy kitchen torch was unnecessary, and you just needed a regular torch.  Great.  There's a hardware store right across the street from us, so on one of our recent snow days we bundled up and wandered over and found the perfect little torch for $35.  Done!  Granted, a torch isn't used for a lot of dishes, but this means Baked Alaska, toasted marshmallow, and various other meringue dishes are within reach.  As well as any fancy seared sushi, if I ever get so brave as to attempt that at home.  Or, it could be used in a more conventional fashion for jewelry making or... plumbing repairs....?

The taste of the finished dessert?  Delicious.  You want more of a description?  Um... delicate, intriguing, yummy... just try it!  After making this one, I want to experiment with other tea infusions, like Earl Grey and green tea.  My whisk and torch are at the ready!

Black Currant Tea Crème Brûlée
(from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert cookbook)
Makes 6-8 servings

3 cups heavy cream
6 Tbsp sugar, plus 8 tsp for caramelizing
1/4 cup loose black currant tea leaves
6 egg yolks

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, the 6 Tbsp of sugar, and tea leaves until warm.  Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 30 minutes.  (If you want it less strong, steep it a bit less)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Set six 6-oz or eight 4-oz ramekins or custard cups in a deep baking dish.

Pour the cream mixture through a fine mesh strainer into another saucepan.  Reheat the cream until it's quite warm.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Gradually whisk in the warm cream, whisking constantly as you pour to prevent the eggs from cooking.  Divide the custard mixture evenly among the ramekins.  Fill the baking dish with warm water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

You can cover the baking dish tightly with tin foil for baking, but the French chef didn't do that.  I tried it both ways, and found the tin foil to slow the baking process, and found no difference in texture between covered or not.  So it's completely up to you whether or not you want to cover them with tin foil.

Slowly and steadily place the baking dish with the ramekins into the oven and bake until the perimeters of the custards are just set and the centers are still slightly jiggly, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the custards from the water bath to a wire rack and let cool completely.  Refrigerate until chilled (although overnight is best for optimum texture).

Just before serving, evenly sprinkle each chilled custard with 1 teaspoon sugar and caramelize with a kitchen torch.  Wave the tip of the flame over the sugar at close range until the sugar begins to melt.  Rotate the ramekin for even caramelization, until the sugar has darkened and caramelized (but don't outright BURN it, that creates a bitter flavor)  To see a video how-to, click here.  Let sit a minute to harden, and then serve.

Enjoy!

Homemade Oreos

Yes, you read that correctly.  Homemade Oreos!  The good news is that they're very easy to make, and don't require anything special in terms of ingredients or equipment.    (The bad news... well, if you're aiming for a healthy cookie, this ain't it.)

Also, if you'd like some extra points at work, these cookies are highly recommended!  They disappeared remarkably quick from my desk.

I used a metal shot glass as a cookie cutter (as I was aiming for more authentic sized cookies), however any size or shape is fine.  Use whatever you've got!  You also don't have to "cut out" the flattened balls of dough, but I was looking for some uniformity as mismatched cookies... just didn't appeal to me.

AND you can make yours double, triple, or bajillion stuffed!  A definite plus in making your own.

Let's do the twist...

Annnnnnnnnd eat away!

Homemade Oreos
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 3-4 dozen, depending on size

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.

In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. Slightly flatten the dough. I used a metal shot glass as a "cookie cutter" so they'd be equal sizes and shapes.

Bake for 9 minutes. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie (twisting works well). Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

Enjoy!

Cranberry & White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Raisins are lame.  I'm sorry, they just are.  I like grapes.  I like wine.  It's the dried-out stage I don't enjoy.   (Old grapes should be left on the vine and used for ice wine, and not raisins, just my opinion.)  For my current cookie craving I wanted an oatmeal cookie, but no raisins.  To quote a friend, "Raisins are the bits that should be chocolate and aren't.  A disappointment."

Now craisins, however, are completely different.  You might find this hypocritical, but... it makes perfect sense to me.  I once had a fantastic cranberry and white chocolate oatmeal cookie and was on a mission to make my own version.

Since I'm clearly not the type for an oatmeal raisin cookie (come on, they're always the ones left on the cookie tray, with the exception of the folks who took them thinking they were chocolate chip!), I had no standard base I used.  I found an interesting recipe from Anne Burrell from the Food Network.  Few tweaks, and voila, a tasty cookie!  Also to note, this is a thinner cookie due to the butter, and although I know that I've made it clear how I feel about crispy cookies, but this one definitely works.

I also have to note that this also seemed like a perfect, cozy cookie for this freaky, snowy weather we're currently having (seriously, snow in the Pacific Northwest = catastrophe!)  So, I'll just enjoy one of these cookies on the couch with tea in hand and kitties on the lap!

Cranberry & White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
(adapted from the Food Network)
Makes ~ 3 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup craisins

In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and kosher salt.

In large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar and butter. Using an electric beater or the paddle attachment of the stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until it they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat them into the butter and sugar mixture. Add in the vanilla as well.

With a rubber spatula or with the stand mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture. Mix until just combined. Fold in the white chocolate and craisins.

Refrigerate dough for 1-2 hours, it's pretty sticky.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spoon the cookie dough by rounded tablespoon-size balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the cookie dough balls 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 12 to 13 minutes.

Let the cookies cool for 2 to 3 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!