Crème caramel


Crème caramel
Crème caramel (upside-down caramel cream) is a classic of bistro cuisine. The vanilla cream is made with eggs, cooked in a dish with a layer of caramel in the bottom, and placed in a bain-marie. It's traditionally served turned out so that the liquid caramel runs down over the cream.
265 K 4.1/5 (22 reviews)
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Last modified on: February 21th 2011
For 4 people, you will need:

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Times for this recipe
Preparation: 45 min.
Resting: 2 hours 10 min.
Cooking: 40 min.
All in all: 3 hours 35 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
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Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 15 min.
Crème caramel
Prepare a light caramel with 75 g caster sugar.

Please note: It's important that the caramel should be light and not dark as it will continue cooking during the rest of the process, and so risk becoming overcooked and bitter.

Stage 2 - 2 min.
Crème caramel
Pour a little liquid caramel into the bottom of a ramekin...

Stage 3 - 1 min.
Crème caramel
... and turn the ramekin so that the caramel coats the base and sides. Pour any excess back into the pan (don't worry for now if there are dribbles around the top of the dish).

Warning: This is a tricky moment, and liquid caramel is burning hot and very dangerous. It is wise to keep young children well clear, and to protect your hands with oven gloves while handling the ramekins (not like I am doing in the photos).

Stage 4 - 10 min.
Crème caramel
Do this with all the ramekins.

Stage 5 - 10 min.
Crème caramel
Pour 500 ml Milk into a pan with ½ vanilla pod, scraped to remove the small black seeds inside, and bring to the boil over medium heat.

Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F), and boil a kettle (or large pan) of water.

Stage 6 - 5 min.
Crème caramel
Meanwhile pour 100 g caster sugar into a bowl and add 3 eggs. Mix well with a maryse.

Pour the boiling milk over, and beat to mix.

Stage 7 - 10 min.
Crème caramel
Pour the mixture through a strainer, preferably over a high-sided container, to remove the bits of vanilla pod.

Leave to rest 10 minutes, then skim off any foam that forms on the surface.

Stage 8 - 40 min.
Crème caramel
Place the ramekins in a large, deep baking sheet, then fill them with cream and put in the oven. Pour boiling water into the tray, then close the oven door and leave to cook around 40 minutes.

Stage 9 - 2 hours
Crème caramel
Check that the creams are cooked, like testing a cake, then remove from the oven and leave at least an hour to cool to room temperature.

Then refrigerate overnight.

Stage 10
Crème caramel
Serve by turning out onto dessert plates or dishes. Overnight the caramel will have liquified, and will now run down over the cream.

Remove from the fridge an hour before serving if possible so that the cream is not too cold.
Remarks
You will notice that this cream uses whole eggs. This makes it firmer than the cream used for crème brulée for example, so that it can be turned out easily.

If you make this dessert for your children or grandchildren, you'll find there's no more talk of desserts from packet mixes.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, covered by a plastic film.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe40 RDI=20 %190 RDI=20 %40 RDI=6 %1,310 RDI=70 %5,510 RDI: 70 %
Per 100 g5 RDI=2 %20 RDI=2 %4 RDI=1 %160 RDI=8 %670 RDI: 8 %
Per person10 RDI=4 %50 RDI=5 %10 RDI=2 %330 RDI=20 %1,380 RDI: 20 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: Milk, egg
How much will it cost?
  • For 4 people : 2.40 €
  • Per person : 0.60 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
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