Chefie’s World

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I’ve been teaching the past week, every other day from 9 am to 10 pm, exhausting but enjoying it so much since it’s always fun to meet a new set of people. One program I haven’t taught here in Manila for six months and it is such a joy that I am again discussing a course that I myself made and labored on. I am also thrilled and happy that one of my students is an old friend who I haven’s seen for a long time. You know the feeling of being so happy that you are again reconnected with someone you shared so much and you have remained friends but don’t see each other? Just like making my tiramisu a week or two ago! It was the memory of making it first for money since I didn’t have any and then later on, for people because they enjoyed eating it with good memories of friends and family. Clients have told me that my food have been part of the most memorable events in their lives and I am elated with that, even clients who remember how it has been all these years with the cakes, or the brownie I made for them. I was even part of several “pamanhikans”. Also the other day I had lunch with a student who has become my friend who went through so much a few years ago but now has bounced back and is ready to start a new life, old and new, she still wanted me to be a part of it. I am also overjoyed with the wonderful comments you have left in my posts. They not only make my heart fat, my eyes water or my hair go but it has made my brain soften to what it really is I have to do in this lifetime.
Sharing recipes with you is like sharing part of me, part of my life….sometimes it takes over three dozen testings before I can actually post the recipe here, that’s how you as readers are important to me.

Crème Caramel has been part of my life. Around 1987, my Ate Ampy shared a recipe with me and it too has been our recipe for such a long time. It is a modified recipe of Martha Stewart’s coming from her first cookbook when she was just a caterer….imagine she’s now a multi billionaire….Creme Caramel is like our leche flan but the Pinoy version uses condensed and evaporated milk and a lot of egg yolks, our version has a difference in it. Anyway, I can’t give you Ate Ampy’s recipe because I honor her for that so I made my own….for you. Hope you enjoy.

Crème Caramel is a French custard dessert done by baking a mixture of eggs, sugar, fresh milk and heavy cream in a mold with caramel in the bottom. The custard then is baked in a low heat oven until set, bain marie and then chilled. When service comes, the mold is inverted to release and therefore glazing the top of the custard, the excess caramel becomes the sauce.

Use a pan with no connections, use one whole mold….7 inch diameter with 3 inch borders or fence.

Ingredients:

Caramel:
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup water

Procedure:
Moisten all sugar with water. Have a brush with water to
remove the crystals that stick on the sides of the pan.
Cook at medium heat, don’t swirl or mix at anytime, when
amber or golden brown, remove from heat and plunge in an ice
bath.

Filling:

1 ¼ cups heavy cream
1 cup fresh milk
4 pcs egg yolks
3 pcs eggs
½ cup sugar
1 pc green lemon, remove rind

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Prepare a roasting pan for bain marie.
Boil heavy cream and fresh milk with the green lemon rind.
Mix egg yolks and whole eggs with sugar.
Pour in heavy cream and fresh milk mixture. Stir well by hand.
Don’t incorporate too many bubbles.
Pour and strain to remove the rind.
Bake for 45 minutes not any longer.
Cool. Chill overnight.
You have to put this at room temperature before service.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 9:32 pm and is filed under Food, recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.