Showing posts with label Crème Anglaise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crème Anglaise. Show all posts

Monday, July 25, 2011

Charlotte aux Poires, Coulis de Framboise (Pear Charlotte with Raspberry Coulis)


Unlike last week's simple and delicious Oeufs à la Neige (Snow Eggs with Caramel and Crème Anglaise, today's recipe is a bit more involved, with five components—meaning a pile of dishes to clean afterward!

Let’s start with the ladyfingers. They’re quite straightforward this time, especially since I followed the instructions carefully and sprinkled the confectioner's sugar on top of the piped fingers, instead of mixing it into the batter like I did last time. To make them, whip the egg whites, fold in the yolks, and then incorporate the flour. Pipe the batter, sprinkle with icing sugar, and bake at 350°F until golden.

Now, onto the pears. Why do the French have such a love for pears? I’ve never been a huge fan, finding them a bit mealy. However, poaching really brings out their sweetness and improves the texture. To prepare them, halve the pears and poach them in water, sugar, and vanilla until soft. Once they’ve cooled, purée half of the pears and dice the other half.

The star of this dessert, for me, is the Crème Anglaise. Some people can eat raw cookie dough (which I personally can't), but I could easily devour a whole saucepan of Crème Anglaise. That said, adding the softened gelatin and water mixture to the custard doesn’t do it any favors in my opinion—jelly and custard just don’t mix well.

Afterward, whip the cream (I usually add a bit of liqueur, but I opted to leave it out this time) and gently fold it into the Bavarian cream, which is a mixture of Crème Anglaise and gelatin.

To finish, purée the raspberries, strain out the seeds if desired, and whisk in the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice.

Now, the hardest part: patience. After all that work, you’ll need to wait 4-5 hours for the Bavarian cream to set!

Bavarois is a classic French dessert that combines gelatin to thicken the mixture and whipped cream to lighten it, creating a rich yet airy treat perfect for any special occasion.

Recipe: Charlotte aux Poires, Coulis de Framboise (Pear Charlotte with Raspberry Coulis)

Serves: 6


Ingredients:

Ladyfingers
3 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup cake flour
Confectioner's sugar, sifted
Unsalted butter, softened for the baking sheet

Pear Bavarian Cream
1 pound pears
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 ounce powdered gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons cold water

Crème Anglaise
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar

Whipped Cream
1/4 cup Poire William or domestic pear brandy (I ended up leaving this out)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Raspberry Coulis
1 1/2 cups raspberries
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon, strained

Instructions:

1. Make the Ladyfingers:
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
  • Whip the egg whites in a stand mixer or by hand until soft peaks form. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar, whipping until stiff peaks form.
  • In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and sift the flour.
  • Gently fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites until fully combined. Be careful not to deflate the batter.
  • Pipe the batter into long, finger-shaped lines on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with a light dusting of icing sugar.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
2. Poach the Pears:
  • Peel, core, and halve the pears.
  • In a medium saucepan, add water, sugar, and vanilla (split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the water, or use vanilla extract). Bring to a simmer.
  • Add the pear halves to the simmering liquid. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, until pears are tender but not mushy.
  • Remove the pears from the liquid and let them cool. Once cool, purée half the pears and dice the other half for garnish. Set aside.
3. Prepare the Crème Anglaise:
  • In a saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla over medium heat until it comes to a simmer (do not let it boil).
  • In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until smooth.
  • Gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture, tempering the yolks. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens to coat the back of a spoon (about 5 minutes).
  • Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps. Allow to cool completely.
4. Make the Bavarois:
  • Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water and let it sit for 5 minutes to bloom.
  • Warm the gelatin mixture in the microwave for about 10 seconds until it dissolves completely. Add it to the cooled Crème Anglaise.
  • In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the Crème Anglaise mixture, making sure everything is evenly combined.
  • Pour the Bavarois mixture into serving dishes or a mold and refrigerate for 4-5 hours, or until set.
5. Prepare the Raspberry Sauce:
  • In a blender or food processor, purée the raspberries until smooth.
  • Strain the purée through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.
  • Add sugar and lemon juice to the raspberry purée. Adjust sweetness to taste.
  • Refrigerate the raspberry sauce until ready to serve.
6. Assemble the Dessert:
  • Once the Bavarois has set, spoon a layer of the diced poached pears over the top of the Bavarois.
  • Drizzle the raspberry sauce over the pears and Bavarois.
  • Garnish with the ladyfingers, either whole or cut into pieces.
  • Serve chilled and enjoy!
You can find the recipe for Charlotte aux Poires, Coulis de Framboise (Pear Charlotte with Raspberry Coulis) in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link). 


Tasting Notes
If you like pears, you'll like this recipe. If you like jello, you'll like this recipe. I liked the ladyfingers and the Crème Anglaise so all was not wasted. And you can't go wrong with raspberry coulis, but it's a very strong taste that likes to overpower the subtle taste of pear.

More Charlottes
• Whisk: Charlotte aux Pommes, Crème Anglaise au Rhum (Apple Charlotte with Rum-Flavored Crème Anglaise)
• Whisk: Charlotte Malakoff (Almond Cream Charlotte)
• Whisk: Charlotte aux pommes, crème anglaise au Calvados (Apple Charlotte served with Calvados custard sauce)
• La Cerise: Charlotte and Biscuits à la Cuillère (Ladyfingers)
• Happy Home Baking: Tiramisu Charlotte Cake

More Bavarois
• Whisk: Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis)
• Whisk: Bavarois à la Fraise (Strawberry Bavarian Cream with Strawberry Coulis)

Next Time
Crème d’amande (Almond cream) in Almond-Filled Basque Cake page 253
::Whisk::
I'm baking my way through a cooking school curriculum using the Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link) cookbook. The "classes" are based on the Le Cordon Bleu curriculum found online and used as a guideline. Not all the items in the curriculum are in the cookbook, but most are. Where the items are not in the book, I try to find a suitable substitution.

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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Whisk Wednesdays—Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis)

Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis)
This is the best dessert in my Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link) cookbook so far! If you love ice cream, whipped cream and the texture of pudding, then this Vanilla Bavarian Cream dessert is for you.

The recipe combines techniques learned earlier in this curriculum. Crème anglaise, the base of ice cream, is also the foundation of this dessert. What gives it structure is gelatin. The gelatin is dissolved in water and later stirred into the cooled crème anglaise mixture that has been lightened with whipped cream. After the gelatin does a bit of its magic and sets the mixture slightly, it's poured into molds and chilled.

The raspberry coulis is just puréed raspberries that have been strained to remove the seeds and stirred with sugar and lemon juice. This sauce is drizzled on the Bavarian cream.

The hardest part about this dessert is getting it out of its mold. {Luckily, I only needed one for a photo! The rest we enjoyed eating out of the plastic, golden containers circa-1950s!}

Recipe: Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis)

Serves: 6

Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis) mise en place

Ingredients:

¼ ounce powdered gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons cold water

For the Crème Anglaise:
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1¾ cups heavy cream

For the Raspberry Coulis:
1½ cups raspberries
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
Juice of ½ lemon, strained

You can find the recipe for Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis) in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link). To see how the rest of the Whisk Wednesdays group fared with their recipe, click here (or check out the sidebar) and then click on each blogger!

Spoon and RaspberryTasting Notes
If there's a spectrum, Bavarian cream sits between a mousse and a crème brulée. Its smooth and creamy texture carries the slightly tart raspberry coulis expertly on your taste buds. This is a stunning chilled dessert for summer that you will want to lick clean when no one's looking.
"The orangey sugar cubes at last mooshed, I proceeded to zest and squeeze oranges, soften gelatin, separate eggs — doing it just the way Meryl Streep does in The Hours, by gently juggling them back and forth in my hands, letting the white slip through my fingers into a bowl waiting below. Felt like the way Julia would do it — very cook-y."
— Julie Powell in Julie & Julia, page 108
Links
• Khalyapina Kitchen: Orange Bavarois Recipe
• What's for Lunch, Honey?: Strawberry Bavarian Cream

Next Class
• Velouté Du Barry (Cream of Cauliflower Soup) pages 419-420

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $1,434.41 + $11.01 = $1,445.42
($1.84 per serving)

Butter used so far: 12 pounds, 20.5 tablespoons

87% complete

. . . . . . . . . .




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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Tuesdays with Dorie—Floating Islands

Floating Islands (Île Flottante) or Snow Eggs (Oeufs à la Neige) - A Heavenly French Dessert Floating Islands (Île Flottante) or Snow Eggs (Oeufs à la neige)While watching the Grammy's Sunday night and working on this post, I was reminded of one of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs: "I Am a Rock".

I pretend to be an island most of the time, choosing to be very independent and private. Last week, while riding on a school bus for a field trip with my daughter's Grade 4 class, I was reminded how social children are. They relish the time they have to share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences with each other every chance they get. The bus was noisy with their giddiness and excitement for life.
"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."
—Angela Schwindt
Maybe it's the fact that I spent the first four years of my life on a floating island in the South Pacific (Papua New Guinea) that I have a fascination for islands. And this culinary version of a floating island is the perfect dessert. It is now my favorite dessert and the one I would have at my "last meal". I can't believe it took me this long to taste it, but now that I've made it three times this past week, I won't have to live without it again!

Floating Islands (Île Flottante) or Snow Eggs (Oeufs à la neige)Floating Islands versus Snow Eggs
There is some discrepancy about what Floating Islands (Île Flottante) are versus Snow Eggs (Oeufs à la neige). In my research, I found Floating Islands to be one large island that is baked in the oven in a bain marie and typically contains toasted almonds. Snow Eggs are individual egg-sized meringue puffs that are poached in either simple syrup or milk. To confuse the issue even more there is another version of a French Floating Island that is a liqueur-sprinkled sponge cake spread with jam, and topped with nuts and whipped cream, surrounded by a pool of custard.

After making Dorie's version of Floating Islands, I decided to try making the Floating Islands and Snow Eggs from my vintage 1971 Grand Diplôme Cooking Course book.

Grand Diplôme Cooking Course cookbookBoth Floating Islands and Snow Eggs are made up of three components: crème anglaise, meringue and caramel. Each element on its own is delicious, so I knew together they would be amazing.

Crème Anglaise
Crème anglaise contains sugar, yolks, milk, and vanilla, but it can be flavored with all sorts of delicious things such as cardamom, rum, chocolate, ginger, chamomile, brandy, Grand Marnier, espresso, or even stout! Crème anglaise is a stirred custard as opposed to a baked custard. It must be stirred constantly so that it doesn’t curdle at the bottom of the pan or overcook. Because it’s stirred, it doesn’t thicken as much as a crème brulée or crème caramel which thickens in the oven.

It’s a rich, smooth sauce that can be served warm or cold. It is also common as a base for making ice creams.

Meringue
Meringue is simply sweetened egg whites. You can use superfine sugar since it dissolves faster, but I just used regular sugar. The salt helps stabilize the meringue. After poaching half of the meringue puffs, I folded in some red food coloring to the remaining meringue mixture to make pink ones.

To shape the islands, I used my 1-tablespoon ice cream scoop. I also tried a larger ice cream scoop, but they puffed up too big. And I tried using two spoons to shape an oval, but found these were oddly-shaped and puffed up too big as well. Whatever method you use, you should know that they expand quite a bit when poached in the milk.

Caramel
Caramel shouldn't be that hard to make. However, I made it three times this past week and only once did it work. The first time, I let it get past a perfect amber color to a point where it started to smoke and burn. The next batch hardened too quickly before I could get it on a floating island. Finally, the third one worked. (I also supplemented with store-bought caramel sauce from a plastic jar for some helpings of floating islands.)

Joe from Joe Pastry did a whole segment on making your own caramel with pictures, and here's a video showing how to make caramel.

Recipe: Floating Islands

Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients for Floating Islands

Ingredients:

For the Crème Anglaise:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Islands:
2 cups milk
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
¼ cup sugar

For the Caramel (optional)
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup water

To make the crème anglaise: Bring the milk to a boil.

Meanwhile, put the yolk and sugar in a heavy saucepan and whisk vigorously until thick and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Still whisking, drizzle in a little of the hot milk — this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining milk. Put the saucepan over medium-low heat and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook until the custard thickens, lightens in color and coats the spoon (this can take 10 minutes or so) — if you run your finger down the spoon, the track should remain. For this recipe, the crème anglaise should be cooked until it reaches 180˚F on an instant-read thermometer.

Immediately remove the pan from the heat, strain the custard into a bowl and stir in the vanilla extract. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the custard to create an airtight seal and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, or for up to 3 days. (The crème anglaise will improve with at least on overnight rest.)

To make the islands: Spread a clean kitchen towel on the counter near the stove and have a large slotted spoon at hand. [The towel will help the floating islands drain after poaching.] Put the milk in a wide saucepan and bring it to a simmer over low heat.

Meanwhile, put the egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a large bowl and a hand mixer. Beat the whites on medium speed just until foamy, then beat in the salt. When the eggs turn opaque, increase the mixer speed to medium-high and add the sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time. Whip until the meringue is firm but satiny and still glossy.

You have two options in shaping the islands: you can just scoop up some meringue — specifically, an amount about twice the size of an egg — in which case you'll have the equivalent of a rocky volcanic island, or you can smooth the meringue to get a manicured island. For the smooth look, use a large oval spoon to scoop up the meringue, then use another large oval spoon to very gingerly transfer the meringue from spoon to spoon a couple of times to form a smooth oval.

Either way, one by one, lower the islands into the simmering milk, adding only as many islands as you can fit into the pan without crowding. Poach the meringues for 1 minute, gently turn them over and poach 1 minute more, then lift the islands out of the milk and onto the towel. Repeat until you've poached 12 islands. Put the puffs (which will have inflated when poached and will deflate when cooled) on a wax paper-lined baking sheet and chill them for at least 1 hour, or for up to 3 hours.

To make the optional caramel: Decide whether you want to serve the meringues in one large bowl or six individual bowls, and have the bowl(s) at hand.

Right before serving, stir the sugar and water together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat, bring the sugar to a boil and cook without stirring, swirling the pan occasionally, until the caramel turns a pale gold color, 6 to 8 minutes or so. Pull the pan from the heat and let the caramel cool just until it is thick enough to form threads when it is dropped from the tines of a fork. (If the caramel hardens, rewarm it slowly over low heat.)

Either pour the crème anglaise into a large serving bowl and top with the meringue islands, or make six individual servings. If using the caramel, working quickly, dip the tines of a fork into the caramel and wave the fork over the floating islands to create threads that will quickly harden.

Serving: Once the dessert has been assembled, it should be served immediately.

Storing: You can make both the crème anglaise and the meringue puffs in advance and keep them chilled, but the assembled dessert won't keep.

Notes
You can also find the recipe for Floating Islands in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours (affiliate link) by Dorie Greenspan or here. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger!

You can find tips about this recipe here.

Ideas for variations to flavor the meringue: lemon, orange, lime or even espresso

Floating IslandsTasting Notes
Now that I've eaten three batches of Floating Islands and Snow Eggs, I'll have to put these recipes aside for awhile. It's just too hard for me to leave them alone since I'm the only one eating them at our house! I loved the caramel with this dessert and not the chocolate that I tried for one plate. I found the chocolate overpowered the delicate taste of the Snow Eggs. This is also a great dessert to make ahead and assemble just before serving. There is still one more recipe I'd like to try: Fernand Point's recipe in Ma Gastronomie for Île Flottante, which contains egg yolks in the meringue mixture. But I'll have to wait before making any more batches of this delicious dessert.
"May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."
— St. Theresa's Prayer
(sent to me by Kate from Aapplemint on a day when it was just what I needed to read)

Recipe for Next Week (February 17)
Devil's Food White-Out Cake on pages 247-249 (the cover recipe) chosen by Stephanie of Confessions of a City Eater.

A few other links to Floating Islands or Snow Eggs
• Béa from La Tartine Gourmande's Pistachio Floating Islands and Vanilla Cardamom Snow Eggs
• Helen from Tartelette's Strawberry and Vanilla Floating Islands

My Tuesdays with Dorie Trivia
Since I got to pick this week's recipe, I thought I'd share with you a bit of my TWD trivia. It's been a wonderful year meeting other food bloggers who share their passion about baking (and cooking). Thanks for making this year a great one for me!

• I joined March 25, 2008 and made another of my favorite desserts that week: Caramel-Topped Flan

• I've made 46 desserts from Baking: From My Home to Yours and have loved most of them.

Apple Cheddar Scones
Arborio Rice Pudding
Berry Surprise Cake
Black-and-White Banana Loaf
Blueberry {Saskatoon/Raspberry} Sour Cream Ice Cream
Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Buttery Jam Cookies
Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake
Caramel-Topped Flan
Carrot Cake
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler
Chocolate Chunkers
Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops
Chocolate Pudding
Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte in a Popsicle
Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes
Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
Crème Brûlée
Dimply Plum Cake
Double-Crusted Blueberry Pie
Florida Pie
Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake
French Chocolate Brownies
French Pear Tart
Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread
Gooey Chocolate Cake
Grandma’s All-Occasion Sugar Cookies
Granola Grabbers
Kugelhopf
La Palette’s Strawberry Tart
Lenox Almond Biscotti
Linzer Sablés
Madeleines
Marshmallows
Mixed Berry Cobbler
Peanut Butter Torte
Pecan Honey Sticky Buns
Peppermint Cream Puff Ring...Swan
Pumpkin Muffins
Quintuple Chocolate Brownies
Rugelach
Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins
Summer Fruit Galette
Thanksgiving Twofer Pie
The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart
World Peace Cookies

An Award
Lemonade Award - When Life Give You Lemons, Make LemonadeI received an award called the Lemonade Award - When Life Give You Lemons, Make Lemonade from Gretchen of Canela and Comino. I feel very honoured!






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Saturday, March 1, 2008

Charlotte aux pommes, crème anglaise au Calvados (Apple Charlotte served with Calvados custard sauce)

Charlotte aux Pommes: A Classic French Apple Dessert
Charlotte aux pommes is an 18th century classic recipe named after the German wife of King George III of England who was said to have a special affinity for apple growers. According to this link, charlottes were “invented” in England. It’s a molded dessert, traditionally baked in a mold called a “charlotte mold” (affiliate link) that has two handles and slightly flared sides. You could use individual ramekins as well.

Charlotte aux pommes consists of a layer of toasty bread around the outside with apple compote in the center. It sounds like a blend of apple pie and bread pudding.

Use apples that are firm, such as Golden Delicious, to help hold the charlotte’s shape. This tip comes from Julia Child who made this charlotte on live television in the 1960s on her series called "The French Chef" and watched it collapse after unmolding it.

"One of the secrets of cooking is to learn to correct something if you can, and bear with it if you cannot." ~Julia Child
Charlotte aux pommes is typically served with crème anglaise, which is also a classic dessert sauce dating back to the 19th century.

Crème anglaise contains sugar, yolks, milk, and vanilla, but it can be flavored with all sorts of delicious things such as cardamom, rum, chocolate, ginger, chamomile, brandy, Grand Marnier, espresso, or even stout! Crème anglaise is a “stirred” custard as opposed to a “baked” custard. It must be stirred constantly so that it doesn’t curdle at the bottom of the pan or overcook. Because it’s stirred, it doesn’t thicken as much as a crème brulée or crème caramel which thickens in the oven.

It’s a rich, smooth sauce that can be served warm or cold. It is also common as a base for making ice creams.

Calvados Calvadosis an apple brandy from the Basse-Normandie region of France.
map from Wikipedia

Given that I only needed about 5 tablespoons, I went to the local liquor store looking for the smallest bottle I could find. For $45, I could have a 750 mL sized bottle! And that was the lowest priced bottle I could find. One that had been aged for 30 years in French oak casks would set me back almost $300. So, I settled for dark rum instead.

Recipe: Charlotte aux pommes, crème anglaise au Calvados (Apple Charlotte served with Calvados custard sauce) 


Apple Compote
3 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and diced
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
¼ cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

9-10 slices firm white bread
½-¾ cup clarified butter

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Here's a useful video of Julia Child plating this dessert.

Recipe: Crème Anglaise 


1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup sugar
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons dark rum

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Here's another useful video on making Crème anglaise.


Recipe: Apricot Glaze 

⅓ cup Apricot Jam
1-2 tablespoons water
½ tablespoon dark rum

You can find the recipe in from Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Clarified butter

Clarified butter is also known as “drawn butter”. Here are some pros and cons of using clarified butter:

It keeps longer because it doesn’t have the milk in it to go rancid.
It has a higher smoke point.
It has a buttery taste that oils don’t have.
It doesn’t have the rich flavor of regular unsalted butter.

Melt the unsalted butter slowly in a saucepan over low heat. Don’t stir. Let it sit so that the milk solids and water separate from the butter fat. Skim the foam from the surface. Remove from the heat and let stand a few minutes until the milk solids settle to the bottom. Carefully pour the clear yellow liquid (the clarified butter) into a container, leaving the milk solids in the bottom of the saucepan; discard the solids.

A stick (8 tablespoons) of butter will produce about 6 tablespoons of clarified butter. For the apple compote, you will need about 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter.


Variations:

I’d like to try experimenting with this recipe using pears or different bread, such as Brioche. Some cinnamon, lemon peel, and nutmeg would be nice. Maybe some raisins and a different flavored crème anglaise. I’d also like to try serving this in individual ramekins.

Tasting Notes:

“It’s better than apple pie” was what my 8 year old said! Now that’s a compliment. The crunchiness of the toasted bread, coupled with the bite of the apple compote and the smooth, richness of the crème anglaise made this dessert absolutely delicious. Another keeper!

Since I don't have a Charlotte mold, I used a 4-cup soufflé dish (affiliate link) and a 4-cup fluted pudding mold. Both worked fine, and the fluted one even looked scalloped after baking. However, my structure of bread didn’t hold up very well. Next time, actually dipping the bread in the clarified butter and using more bread for the walls would be better. As you can see from the picture, the Charlotte needs more reinforcement!

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $180.66 + $7.94 (Charlotte) + $2.07 (Crème anglaise) + $.99 (Apricot glaze) = $191.66

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 19.5 tablespoons

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