What is the point of heating milk/cream for making Creme Brulée?
In creme brulée, does milk/cream really have to be brought up to simmering point before being adde to the egg/sugar mixture and being put in oven in bain marie? Seems a waste of time to wait for it to cool down. Is there a reason for the simmering point?
Best Answer
you need to temper the eggs, which basically means pre-ccoking them slightly so they can withstand the higher temperatures of the oven without curdling. getting your cream to the simmering point then whisking it into the eggs achieves this goal. there is no need whatsoever to let things cool down; bring cream to boil w/whatever flavourings you're using (e.g. vanilla beans), pour in a slow but steady stream into a bowl of your whisked-to-pale-yellow-ribbon egg yolks & sugar, pour through a very fine mesh strainer, skim off any foam, pour into ramekins, bake.
(For reference, I've made approximately five thousand creme brulees in the last year, this is the method I use every time).
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Quick Answer about "What is the point of heating milk/cream for making Creme Brulée?"
Cream – for creaminess Milk fat is solid at room temperature, but it melts at temperatures just below body temperature. As such, it can melt in your mouth. The fat makes the creme brulee creamy and rich in texture. These lemon custard tarts also use egg yolks to firm up.Why do you heat milk for custard?
When making a custard (which serves as the base for this ice cream recipe), it is necessary to scald the milk. This accomplishes two things: it dissolves the sugar, and when whisked into eggs it increases their temperature slowly and helps prevent curdling.How do you scald cream for crème brûlée?
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of the sugar together on low speed until just combined. Meanwhile, scald the cream in a small saucepan until it's very hot to the touch but not boiled.Why does crème brûlée need to be in boiling water?
This water bath is called a bain-marie. The water should come about halfway up the ramekins. Baking the custards in a bain-marie keeps the air in the oven moist, and prevents the cr\xe8me br\xfbl\xe9es from cracking.What temperature should cream be for crème brûlée?
Custard Temperatures But egg mixtures\u2014custards\u2014set around 160\u2013180\xb0F (71\u201382\xb0C). The more diluted the egg mixture, the higher the doneness temperature will be. The target doneness temperature for cr\xe8me br\xfbl\xe9e is 176\xb0F (80\xb0C).Easy and Amazing Creme Brulee Recipe | Preppy Kitchen
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Answer 2
As a counterpoint to daniel's answer - whom I'm sure, in all sincerity, makes perfect crème brûlées every time and I don't doubt that you can do the same by following his method - I have made a great many (albeit substantially less than five thousand) of them and have never heated anything except the water that goes into the bain-marie.
As long as you strain the mixture and use a bain-marie, and fill that up sufficiently with hot water, it won't curdle. At least not in my oven or in any of the ovens I've used in the past. That is in fact what a bain-marie is for. You might think that the radiant heat of the oven would overheat the custard anyway, but... it doesn't. Not as long as you use a relatively low oven setting and don't use the top rack.
As I said, I haven't made five thousand, but I've made several hundred and have never experienced curdling despite the lack of tempering.
If you want to prove it to yourself, then next time you make it, pour one serving into a ramekin before tempering the rest of the mixture. If they turn out the same, then you can skip that step entirely.
Answer 3
I've never heated up the cream. I combine the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract, then combined the mixture with 2 cups cream and whisked it all together. It comes out great every time.
Answer 4
I have done with heated and not heated cream. No difference in the end result. I found this out when I forgot to heat the cream one time I made it.
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