Happy New Year! May 2012 bring you and your family lots of joy, amazing moments, as many accomplishments, and of course health and abundance!
What would happen when you combine two of your favorite deserts? A miracle!
I made these mini cakes for the New Year's Eve dinner: creme caramel, or flan, and chocolate cake.
To make this amazing treat I just made half of the "Death by chocolate" cake batter recipe and half of Creme caramel recipe.
Method:
1. Make the caramel:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons water
In a heavy sauce pan put 1 1/2 cups sugar with 4 tablespoons water on medium low heat, and cook it until in becomes glossy and darkens, like this:
Divide the caramel in 4 medium ramekins, covering the bottom and sides of them. Let them cool until caramel hardens and starts cracking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Put a kettle of water to boil.
2. Prepare the creme (flan)
Ingredients (all must have room temperature):
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups whole milk
In the bowl of your electrical mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix 4 whole eggs on low for 1-2 minutes, then add 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract , and mix well on medium/low speed, in order not to incorporate air. Slowly add the milk. Mix on low until all air bubbles are gone.
Pour it in another bowl and set aside.
3. Prepare the cake batter
Ingredients:
4 oz semisweet good quality chocolate (110 grams)
1/3 cup butter (70 grams)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons heaped cake flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sour cream
Break the chocolate in small pieces ( or you can just use chocolate chips instead and so you won't need to brake it ), and melt it with the butter in a sauce pan placed over another pan of boiling water. If you want you may add 1 tablespoon of rum, for more flavor. The sauce pan should not be touching the water in the second pan.
In a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the eggs with sugar on medium ( I put it on 4 on my KitchenAid for about 3-4 minutes ), then mix in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract. Mix just until incorporated on medium speed. Slowly fold in the melted butter and chocolate and the sour cream.
4. Divide the cake batter equally in the 4 ramekins, over the hardened caramel, just to fill them half way.
5. Using the back of a spoon slowly pour the creme mixture over the cake batter, to fill the ramekins. This technique is used when making layered cocktails. Here is a useful tutorial on layering liquids.
6. Tightly cover each ramekin with aluminium foil. This is important.
Place ramekins in a pan filled with hot water, and bake for 40 minutes. The water should rise about 1,5-2 inches on the sides of the ramekins. Why bake in a water bath? Since water evaporates at the boiling point, the water bath will never get hotter than 212 degrees F (100 degrees C), no matter what the oven temperature. This means that the outer edge of your cake won't bake faster than the center, ensuring even baking. When making cheesecake, the water bath also ensures it to stay moist and not crack on top.
And miraculously, while baking, even though the creme (flan) is poured on top of the cake batter, it will sink to the bottom of the pan. Tadaaaaa!
Let them cool for 15 minutes, on a wire rack, then remove the aluminium foil and let cool completely, then refrigerate for 2 hours.
To serve them, run a knife around sides to loosen the edges, then place the serving plate on top of the ramekin. Holding tight, turn them upside down, and the cake will easily drop on the plate, with the caramel on top, dripping all over the cake. So delicious!
Keep the leftovers refrigerated.
You can make this cake in a large pan, or a nice bund cake pan, too.
Thanks for reading,
A
Crème caramel is a custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, or bottom, as opposed to crème brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top. And is one of my favorite deserts!
It may seem difficult to make, but is just the opposite... so simple and easy, you will make this over and over again.
Ingredients:
For the creme ( all must be at room temperature )
8 large eggs
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 quart milk ( 1 liter )
few drops Rum essence
For the caramel
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons water
This recipe will make 4 larger individual portions, or 6-8 smaller ones. You can divide or multiply the recipe to suit your needs.
Method:
Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F ( 180 C )
Make the caramel:
In a sauce pan put the sugar and water over medium low heat, and cook until it gets glossy and turns a golden/amber color.
The deeper the color of the caramel, it will taste more bitter, so you must be very careful at this point. It is very easy to over heat it, and it will be too bitter to eat. You must take it off the heat just a tad before it gets to the color desired, as it will continue to darken even after. Also please be careful, as this is very hot, so handle with much care, using protective mittens and a deeper pan.
This is the color I usually go for, but I like the caramel to be just a little bitter, so if you don't like that, take it off the heat sooner, while it is lighter. Place it when ready in an ice bath for few seconds to stop the cooking.
You want to move fast now, as the caramel hardens quite fast, so have the dish in which you will bake the creme caramel close at hand. Carefully pour the caramel in the dish, and cover the sides too. You can use any dish to bake this desert in: a regular deep pan, several ramekins for individual servings, a cake mold, a deep Pyrex dish, anything that can go in the oven will work.
You must let it cool and harden. If you want to speed up the process put them in the freezer for few minutes. You will know they are ready and cool when the caramel will start cracking. Love that sound!
While the caramel cools, it is time to prepare the custard.
In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the 8 eggs on medium low just until combined, add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat on medium-low ( I use 3 on my KitchenAid ) for about 3-4 minutes. Slowly add the milk and beat until well combined and the sugar dissolves, another 5-7 minutes. The reason it needs to be beaten on lower speed is that you don't want to incorporate air in it. If it gets airy and foamy just let it mix for longer on the lowest speed, in order to take out all the bubbles.
Now pour the mixture in the caramel covered dishes. You can fill them as it will not inflate while baking.
Place them in the oven in a pan filled with water, just like you do with a cheesecake, and bake for one hour if you use one big dish, or 40 minutes if you used ramekins. The smaller the dish the shorter the baking time. When a golden crust forms on top, it is done. Careful not to over bake, as the caramel on bottom will start boiling, making the custard on top spongy, and we don't want that to happen. You want the custard to be smooth and creamy.
Take them out of the oven and sprinkle the top with few rum essence drops, then let them cool on a wire rack. Chill in the fridge for several hours, to set. They are best served cold.
But I cannot count the times I didn't have patience and just ate it warm... it is still delicious!
These are cooling right now, and I can't wait to have some!
You can also use really small ramekins, and make a bunch of them for a party, as they will look very cute.
You can carefully loosen the edges and turn them on a plate, having the caramel on top, especially if you used a cake mold, and have a very pretty presentation, or just serve them in the dishes they baked in, it will taste and look as great either way.
Enjoy and thanks for reading!
A
