I am REALLY sorry that there haven't been any updates for a long time. Life has been a bit crazy and I haven't had the time to really sit down and update this blog. Hopefully there will be more again in the future. I've had quite a bit of time to do things in the kitchen around the start of this year, so I'll do my best to write them down here and share them with you. I got to play with some new toys as well (e.g. low temperature cooking [Niedertemperaturgaren] and vacuum stuff!! *_* So interesting!!)
It's always a good time for sweets, so here are a few of my favorites and the 'staple sweets' that my family makes. It's similar to Crème Brûlée, I guess, just that you don't burn the sugar on top but make the caramel before that. Maybe an upside-down one would be accurate? Or maybe not.
Incidentally the way of making this is very similar of making the Japanese "Chawanmushi", a savory egg dish (in German there's something called "Eierstich" that's also similar method wise).
ATTENTION: this needs to sit for a night (somewhere to cool down first, then in fridge), so if you plan to make it, make it A DAY BEFORE you want to eat it!!
★★★Flan Pudding★★★
Here's what you need:
340ml Coffee Creamer*
680ml Hot Water
8 Eggs (XXL Size about 1.5 to 2 times the volume of normal eggs) **
200g (or more, roughly about 1 tablespoon per egg + 5 for the caramel) sugar
15-20g of vanilla sugar
2-5gr Grated REAL bourbon vanilla
1 Small Pot (diameter ~15cm, height ~10cm)
1 Large Pot (large enough for the small pot to fit into)
Sieve
Water (needs to be about 6-7cm high when the small pot has been placed into the larger one)
(Makes a flan with a diameter of about 15cm and a height of 10cm, enough for 6-8 people)
* In German this is called "Kondensmilch" (I use this one) but this is NOT!!! condensed milk. It's NOT SWEET and it's NOT THICK! It's pretty much like normal milk but more concentrated. It's the cream stuff that goes into your coffee, the stuff that can also come out of little packages where you break off the little tip at the front ._.
** it's actually better to use more egg yolk than egg white, so if you have another way of using the egg whites (e.g. meringue or adding them to a cake dough for more fluffiness), you should do so
How to:
Spoon 5 tablespoons of sugar into the small pot. Turn on your stove to melt the sugar and caramelize it. Be very careful not to burn the sugar! I don't recommend putting the heat high. Let it melt slowly. Once it's melted, turn off the heat (unless you're using an induction stove) and use the remaining heat to melt the sugar all the way and caramelize it. Once it has turned a caramel brown color, move the pot around so the sugar will cover not only the bottom but actually almost all the walls of the pot (careful, the caramel is EXTREMELY HOT!).
Put the creamer into a bowl and set the water to boil. Put in the hot water and stir lightly. Now add the sugar and the vanilla sugar and if you have some, grated real vanilla (I use vanilla from a handy mill that you can see here) . Set aside for a bit and crack the eggs.
Beat the eggs gently - avoid getting foam/bubbles! I like to use chopsticks (so used to it) but using a fork or wooden spoon should also work.
Once the creamer+water+sugar mixture reaches a temperature around 60-65°C (if it's cooled down enough so that you can stick a finger in, if you want to go by rule of thumb - that is, if you're not super sensitive to heat, lol - I recommend to use a thermometer to be absolutely sure) pour in the egg and stir carefully. Again, be careful that there will be no bubbles. There might be holes in your pudding if there's too much air in the mass. Stir until everything is mixed evenly and there are no big 'chunks' of egg visible anymore. It's not a problem if there are small 'chunks' left though.
Put water into the larger pot and let it boil. Ready the small pot with the caramel in the meantime. Once the water in the large pot is hot, put in a paper/kitchen-towel and then set the smaller pot on top of it (the paper towel is not necessary but the noise of the pots clattering against each other will be more quiet). Put or hold a sieve over the pot with the caramel and slowly pour in the mixture containing all the egg and creamer etc. through it.
The sieve will catch whatever 'chunks' of egg are still left over. Take the sieve away once everything has gone through. Add more water to the large pot if necessary. Do not fill up until it reaches the brim of the other pot! Otherwise water will get into your pudding when it boils!
Cover the large pot and put the heat on medium-low so that the water is hot enough that it lets off steam but not bubbling and boiling - turn down to low heat when you think it's hot enough. Although, if the WATER boils, it's not so bad but the pudding mass inside the small pot MUST NOT BOIL. Otherwise you'll get holes.
On low heat, the flan will need about 45 Minutes. Open the lid of the large pot to check. Move the small pot and see whether or not the flan is still liquid or if it has solidified.
If the flan has solidified, turn off the heat. Leave the large pot covered with the small pot still inside and let everything cool off somewhere (DO NOT take out the small pot until everything's cooled down). Once it's cooled down enough or completely (usually takes 4-5 hours, depending on where you put it), take the small pot out, cover it and leave it in the fridge for a few hours.
When you want to serve it, get a big enough bowl. Take a knife and cut along the edge of the flan - between the flan and the pot. Then put the bowl (or a plate) over the pot to cover it and then turn things around/flip over quickly! If all goes well, the flan should plop down into the bowl. Careful, there will be caramel sauce in the pot as well that will slosh out!
Use the knife to cut it and a cake shovel or spoon to put the pieces into smaller bowls.
The texture of this is creamy and yet solid. A bit like sweet tofu if you want a comparison?
You can also use smaller pots to make this. The rule of thumb for the recipe is easy (twice as much water as creamer and then one spoon of sugar for each egg you put in).
For the caramel, well, just put in as much as you like. Rule of thumb is that it covers the bottom of the pot you're making the caramel in.
My egg yolk and egg white ratio is 8 yolks and 6 whites, so an additional 2 egg yolks. My eggs are also double-yolked so, I have not just 8 but 16 yolks actually and less egg white than normal.
What to do with the leftover egg white?
You can make meringue out of it and either bake it as is or just use it to add a bit more fluffiness to other cakes (e.g. chiffon cake or biscuit/sponge cake).
Enjoy!
It's always a good time for sweets, so here are a few of my favorites and the 'staple sweets' that my family makes. It's similar to Crème Brûlée, I guess, just that you don't burn the sugar on top but make the caramel before that. Maybe an upside-down one would be accurate? Or maybe not.
Incidentally the way of making this is very similar of making the Japanese "Chawanmushi", a savory egg dish (in German there's something called "Eierstich" that's also similar method wise).
ATTENTION: this needs to sit for a night (somewhere to cool down first, then in fridge), so if you plan to make it, make it A DAY BEFORE you want to eat it!!
★★★Flan Pudding★★★
 |
| Flan Pudding (after being turned) with one piece cut out from it |
Here's what you need:
340ml Coffee Creamer*
680ml Hot Water
8 Eggs (XXL Size about 1.5 to 2 times the volume of normal eggs) **
200g (or more, roughly about 1 tablespoon per egg + 5 for the caramel) sugar
15-20g of vanilla sugar
2-5gr Grated REAL bourbon vanilla
1 Small Pot (diameter ~15cm, height ~10cm)
1 Large Pot (large enough for the small pot to fit into)
Sieve
Water (needs to be about 6-7cm high when the small pot has been placed into the larger one)
(Makes a flan with a diameter of about 15cm and a height of 10cm, enough for 6-8 people)
* In German this is called "Kondensmilch" (I use this one) but this is NOT!!! condensed milk. It's NOT SWEET and it's NOT THICK! It's pretty much like normal milk but more concentrated. It's the cream stuff that goes into your coffee, the stuff that can also come out of little packages where you break off the little tip at the front ._.
** it's actually better to use more egg yolk than egg white, so if you have another way of using the egg whites (e.g. meringue or adding them to a cake dough for more fluffiness), you should do so
How to:
Spoon 5 tablespoons of sugar into the small pot. Turn on your stove to melt the sugar and caramelize it. Be very careful not to burn the sugar! I don't recommend putting the heat high. Let it melt slowly. Once it's melted, turn off the heat (unless you're using an induction stove) and use the remaining heat to melt the sugar all the way and caramelize it. Once it has turned a caramel brown color, move the pot around so the sugar will cover not only the bottom but actually almost all the walls of the pot (careful, the caramel is EXTREMELY HOT!).
 |
| The inside of the pot should look like this - the caramel hardens quickly! |
Put the creamer into a bowl and set the water to boil. Put in the hot water and stir lightly. Now add the sugar and the vanilla sugar and if you have some, grated real vanilla (I use vanilla from a handy mill that you can see here) . Set aside for a bit and crack the eggs.
 |
| Creamer/Water/Sugar Mixture and Eggs |
Beat the eggs gently - avoid getting foam/bubbles! I like to use chopsticks (so used to it) but using a fork or wooden spoon should also work.
Once the creamer+water+sugar mixture reaches a temperature around 60-65°C (if it's cooled down enough so that you can stick a finger in, if you want to go by rule of thumb - that is, if you're not super sensitive to heat, lol - I recommend to use a thermometer to be absolutely sure) pour in the egg and stir carefully. Again, be careful that there will be no bubbles. There might be holes in your pudding if there's too much air in the mass. Stir until everything is mixed evenly and there are no big 'chunks' of egg visible anymore. It's not a problem if there are small 'chunks' left though.
Put water into the larger pot and let it boil. Ready the small pot with the caramel in the meantime. Once the water in the large pot is hot, put in a paper/kitchen-towel and then set the smaller pot on top of it (the paper towel is not necessary but the noise of the pots clattering against each other will be more quiet). Put or hold a sieve over the pot with the caramel and slowly pour in the mixture containing all the egg and creamer etc. through it.
The sieve will catch whatever 'chunks' of egg are still left over. Take the sieve away once everything has gone through. Add more water to the large pot if necessary. Do not fill up until it reaches the brim of the other pot! Otherwise water will get into your pudding when it boils!
Cover the large pot and put the heat on medium-low so that the water is hot enough that it lets off steam but not bubbling and boiling - turn down to low heat when you think it's hot enough. Although, if the WATER boils, it's not so bad but the pudding mass inside the small pot MUST NOT BOIL. Otherwise you'll get holes.
On low heat, the flan will need about 45 Minutes. Open the lid of the large pot to check. Move the small pot and see whether or not the flan is still liquid or if it has solidified.
If the flan has solidified, turn off the heat. Leave the large pot covered with the small pot still inside and let everything cool off somewhere (DO NOT take out the small pot until everything's cooled down). Once it's cooled down enough or completely (usually takes 4-5 hours, depending on where you put it), take the small pot out, cover it and leave it in the fridge for a few hours.
When you want to serve it, get a big enough bowl. Take a knife and cut along the edge of the flan - between the flan and the pot. Then put the bowl (or a plate) over the pot to cover it and then turn things around/flip over quickly! If all goes well, the flan should plop down into the bowl. Careful, there will be caramel sauce in the pot as well that will slosh out!
Use the knife to cut it and a cake shovel or spoon to put the pieces into smaller bowls.
 |
| Voila! Now it's ready to eat~ |
The texture of this is creamy and yet solid. A bit like sweet tofu if you want a comparison?
You can also use smaller pots to make this. The rule of thumb for the recipe is easy (twice as much water as creamer and then one spoon of sugar for each egg you put in).
For the caramel, well, just put in as much as you like. Rule of thumb is that it covers the bottom of the pot you're making the caramel in.
My egg yolk and egg white ratio is 8 yolks and 6 whites, so an additional 2 egg yolks. My eggs are also double-yolked so, I have not just 8 but 16 yolks actually and less egg white than normal.
What to do with the leftover egg white?
You can make meringue out of it and either bake it as is or just use it to add a bit more fluffiness to other cakes (e.g. chiffon cake or biscuit/sponge cake).
Enjoy!
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