~ Crepes, CremeBrulee

CICI’s CREPES            (rev 10/10)

MAKES:    8 crepes    4 crepes

Flour         2 cups        1 cup
Eggs         2                 1
Milk           2 cups        1 cup
Bro Sugar 1T              1-1/2 t
Vanilla       1t               1 t
Salt            ¼ t           pinch
Oil              0                0

Put all ingredients in blender and process til smooth.
Preheat crepe pan or skillet

For CREPE PAN, pour batter into dish and dip pan into batter; turn upright. Put on burner. When crepe loses gloss, invert onto a plate
For SKILLET: Lightly grease non-stick Skillet, and pour 2 T batter into 6-7″ skillet.  Rotate pan til batter covers bottom.  Bake til bubbles appear. Loosen edges and turn and bake other side.


CREPE BATTER  (the EASY way)
(makes 2 crepes)

1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. beaten egg
3 Tbsp. pancake mix

Mix well.  On medium high, heat a non stick skillet, spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour half the batter into center of skillet.
Lift and tilt the pan to evenly distribute the batter.
Cook until top looks dry, turn and cook til golden brown underneath.  Remove to wire rack or plate.
Make the second one the same way.


FRUITY DESSERT CREPES FOR TWO      

Prepare fruit in a small bowl first:
1/2 banana, sliced small
4 fresh strawberries, sliced small sweetened with a bit of sugar
1 kiwi fruit peeled and sliced small and/or 6 mandarin orange slices
1 snack size cup (3 1/2 ounces) tapioca or vanilla pudding
1/8 tsp almond extract mixed into pudding
Have ready:  2 Tbsp. flaked coconut (optional)
Small can of ReddiWhip whipped cream (in a can.)
Hersheys chocolate syrup in squeeze bottle
2 ready to eat crepes  (for homemade, see recipes below)

Place a crepe on two different serving plates.
Put a stripe of pudding mixture across the center (from side to side).
Sprinkle with coconut, spoon the fruit pieces on top
Then squirt a stripe of whipped cream down the center.
Fold the crepe into thirds and sprinkle a few pieces of fruit on top.
Squirt some stripes of chocolate over a few times.
Serve.


EASY DIVINE CRÈME BRULEE 
Makes (4) 1/2 cup servings.

2 c heavy whipping cream
5 egg yolks
½ c sugar
1 T vanilla
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275°.

By hand, whisk egg yolks till well blended; add sugar and blend; Add vanilla and cream. Whisk til creamy. Don’t need to use mixer.
Pour about ½ cup of mixture into (4) 7 oz size ramekins or crème brulee bowls.
Place all these in a baking pan (9 x 13—or something similar–depends on the size bowls/ramekins used).
Place pan on oven door and pour boiling water in pan around bowls til it reaches about half way up the sides of bowls. Very CAREFULLY place pan in oven—don’t let water get in bowls!

Bake for 45 to 60 min, depending on depth of brulee in dishes.
When using very shallow dishes, with the custard less than 1 inch deep, bake for about 30 min.
When bowls are narrower and taller, with the custard about 2 inches deep, bake for 50-60 min.

When done, the brulee will be quite wobbly; it should jiggle from side to side when nudged.
However, it should NOT be liquid in the center. It will be barely set, but not liquid.
The custard will firm up considerably in the refrigerator, so take it out of the oven when it has set into that very-jiggly-not-liquid consistency.

Remove bowls from pan and let cool for 15 min; then refrigerate. Good to chill overnight.

See Instructions below for 2 ways to carmelize a top crust…broiling is far easier and tastes just as good!

CARMELIZING CRUST BY BROILING:

Move oven top rack to highest notch and turn on oven to Broil setting. Leave oven door slightly ajar.
When ready to make the sugar crust, take the bowls/ramekins out of the refrigerator and dab their tops dry of any moisture or condensation.
Sprinkle a fine layer of sugar (2-1/2 T) over their tops, then shake them back and forth to distribute sugar evenly. Tap out any excess sugar. You should be able to almost see the custard through the thin layer of sugar.
Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and Broil for 2-3 minutes with door slightly ajar–rotating so that they broil evenly. WATCH them-they burn easily
Remove from oven when the crusts are golden brown and bubbling.

Traditionally, crème brûlée is served cold.
If you like it cold, place the ramekins back in the refrigerator and refrigerate for about 30 to 45 min.–any longer and the sugar crust may soften.
If you like them lukewarm, serve them after the sugar has set (about 5 min.)


CARMELIZING CRUST BY TORCHING:

It isn’t easy. If I had a dollar for every one I burned, I’d be halfway to retirement by now. Be sure to use plenty of sugar. If you had a 4 inch wide ramekin, I would use probably nearly 2 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar. Enough that when you angle the ramekin above 45 degrees, you would have some sugar sliding around.

When torching, pick up the ramekin and hold it in the palm of your hand. Now turn your hand so the ramekin is sitting at a 45 degree angle on a wood cutting board. The weight should mostly be on the cutting board. Rotating your fingers, start spinning the ramekin back and forth along the cutting board and torch the top side.

Now, you may burn yourself. Resting it on the cutting board means that if you drop it, it won’t fall wrong-side-down or break. Be sure to grip the back side and don’t let your fingers creep to far forward.
As you work the ramekin around, you will watch the sugar turn to liquid and slide around. Keep going until you get the coverage you desire. There will be lighter bits and darker bits, don’t keep yourself fixated on achieving the perfect golden brown, it’s nearly impossible.

That is the way I did it, with LOTS of practice. If that seems too daunting (fair warning- I did burn myself a lot) then simply keep the torch a great enough distance away. Keep the top of the ramekin about one inch into the flame. Don’t hold the torch too close and just move slow. It will take longer, but it’s easier.

A lot of professionals use a broiler to do this as well. If you’d like to try it, put the ramekin on the top rack of your oven, keep your eye on it (it can burn fast!) and rotate it with tongs on occasion to avoid any hot spots.

By Kim Workman (Martha’s daughter who is a professional cook)