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{{Short description|Custard dessert with hard caramel top}}
{{Short description|Custard dessert with hard caramel top}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Italics title}}
{{Infobox prepared food
{{Infobox food
| name = Crème brûlée
| image = 2014 0531 Crème brûlée Doi Mae Salong (cropped).jpg
| name = ''Crème brûlée''
| image = 2014 0531 Crème brûlée Doi Mae Salong (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| caption =
| caption =
| alternate_name = Burned cream, Burnt cream, Trinity cream, Cambridge burnt cream
| alternate_name = Burned cream, Burnt cream, Trinity cream, Cambridge burnt cream
| country =
| country = [[France]]
| region =
| region = [[France]], [[England]], [[Spain]], [[Netherlands]], [[Portugal]]
| creator =
| creator =
| course = [[Dessert]]
| course = [[Dessert]]
| type =
| served = Room temperature
| served = Room temperature
| main_ingredient = [[Cream]], [[sugar]], [[egg]] or [[egg yolk]]s, [[vanilla]]
| main_ingredient = [[Cream]], [[sugar]], [[Eggs as food|egg]] or [[Yolk|egg yolks]], [[vanilla]]
| variations =
| calories =
| variations =
| other =
}}
}}
[[File:Crème brûlée.webm|thumb|upright=0.6|Breaking French crème brûlée's hard top layer by spoon]]


[[File:Crème brûlée.webm|thumb|Breaking French crème brûlée's hard top layer by spoon]]
'''''Crème brûlée''''' or '''''crème brulée''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|ɹ|ɛ|m|_|b|ɹ|uː|ˈ|l|eɪ}}; {{IPA-fr|kʁɛm bʁy.le}}), also known as '''burnt cream''' or '''Trinity cream''',<ref name="Davidson2014">{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA230 |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |date=21 August 2014 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-104072-6 |page=230 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=6 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306050446/https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA230 |url-status=live }}</ref> and virtually identical to the original [[crema catalana]],<ref name="Andrews2005">{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Colman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-K_ekX6BVXsC&pg=PA247 |title=Catalan Cuisine, Revised Edition: Vivid Flavors From Spain's Mediterranean Coast |date=3 December 2005 |publisher=Harvard Common Press |isbn=978-1-55832-329-2 |pages=247– |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=15 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215183423/https://books.google.com/books?id=-K_ekX6BVXsC&pg=PA247 |url-status=live }}</ref> is a [[dessert]] consisting of a rich [[custard]] base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized [[sugar]]. It is normally served slightly chilled; the heat from the [[caramelizing]] process tends to warm the top of the custard, while leaving the center cool.
'''''Crème brûlée''''' or '''''crème brulée''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|ɹ|ɛ|m|_|b|ɹ|uː|ˈ|l|eɪ}}; {{IPA-fr|kʁɛm bʁy.le|lang}}), also known as '''burnt cream''' or '''Trinity cream''',<ref name="Davidson2014">{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA230 |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |date=21 August 2014 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-104072-6 |page=230 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=6 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306050446/https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA230 |url-status=live }}</ref> and virtually identical to ''[[crema catalana]]'',<ref name="Andrews2005">{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Colman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-K_ekX6BVXsC&pg=PA247 |title=Catalan Cuisine, Revised Edition: Vivid Flavors From Spain's Mediterranean Coast |date=3 December 2005 |publisher=Harvard Common Press |isbn=978-1-55832-329-2 |pages=247– |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=15 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215183423/https://books.google.com/books?id=-K_ekX6BVXsC&pg=PA247 |url-status=live }}</ref> is a [[dessert]] consisting of a rich [[custard]] base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized [[sugar]]. It is normally served slightly chilled; the heat from the [[caramelizing]] process tends to warm the top of the custard, while leaving the center cool. The custard base is generally flavored with [[vanilla]] in [[French cuisine]], but can have other flavorings. It is sometimes [[Garnish (food)|garnished]] with fruit.
The custard base is traditionally flavored with [[vanilla]] in [[French cuisine]], but can have other flavorings. It is sometimes [[Garnish (food)|garnished]] with fruit.


==History==
==History==
The earliest known recipe of a dessert called ''crème brûlée'' appears in [[François Massialot]]'s 1691 [[cookbook]] {{Lang|fr|Cuisinier royal et bourgeois}}.<ref name="oxon"></ref><ref name="Grigson1985">{{Cite book |last=Grigson |first=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LiY-AQAAIAAJ |title=Jane Grigson's British Cookery |date=1 January 1985 |publisher=Atheneum |isbn=9780689115240 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930050655/https://books.google.com/books?id=LiY-AQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The question of its origin has inspired debate within the modern gastronomical community, with some authors suggesting that ''[[crema catalana]]'', whose origins date to the 14th century, may have inspired chefs throughout Europe.<ref name="La gastronomie au Grand Siècle">{{Cite book |last1=Sabban |first1=Françoise |url=https://archive.org/details/lagastronomieaug00sabb/page/272/mode/2up |title=La gastronomie au Grand Siècle : 100 recettes de France et d'Italie |last2=Serventi |first2=Silvano |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-2234050426 |pages=272}}</ref>
The earliest known recipe of a dessert called ''crème brûlée'' appears in [[François Massialot]]'s 1691 [[cookbook]] {{Lang|fr|Cuisinier royal et bourgeois}},<ref name="oxon"></ref><ref name="Grigson1985">{{Cite book |last=Grigson |first=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LiY-AQAAIAAJ |title=Jane Grigson's British Cookery |date=1 January 1985 |publisher=Atheneum |isbn=9780689115240 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930050655/https://books.google.com/books?id=LiY-AQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> but its ultimate origins are unclear.<ref name="La gastronomie au Grand Siècle">{{Cite book |last1=Sabban |first1=Françoise |url=https://archive.org/details/lagastronomieaug00sabb/page/272/mode/2up |title=La gastronomie au Grand Siècle : 100 recettes de France et d'Italie |last2=Serventi |first2=Silvano |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-2234050426 |pages=272}}</ref>

The recipe is based on egg yolks and milk, with a pinch of flour. Once cooked, [[François Massialot]] specifies "''that it must be sweetened on top, in addition to the sugar that is put in it: we take the shovel from the fire, very red at the same time we burn the cream, so that it takes a beautiful color of gold''".


Some authors mention Bartolomeo Stefani's ''Latte alla Spagnuola'' (1662) as describing ''crema catalana'',<ref name="La gastronomie au Grand Siècle" /> but it calls for browning the top of the custard ''before'' serving with sugar on top.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stefani |first=Bartolomeo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6M_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA97 |title=L'Arte di ben cucinare |year=1622 |pages=97–98 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816054823/https://books.google.com/books?id=J6M_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA97 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Some authors mention Bartolomeo Stefani's ''Latte alla Spagnuola'' (1662) as describing ''crema catalana'',<ref name="La gastronomie au Grand Siècle" /> but it calls for browning the top of the custard ''before'' serving with sugar on top.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stefani |first=Bartolomeo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6M_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA97 |title=L'Arte di ben cucinare |year=1622 |pages=97–98 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816054823/https://books.google.com/books?id=J6M_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA97 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The practice of browning dishes with a hot iron was already documented in [[François Pierre La Varenne|La Varenne]]'s ''Cuisinier françois'', published in 1651.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=La Varenne |first=François Pierre |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k114423k |title=Le cuisinier françois |date=1651 |pages=240, 241, 244, 120, 121 |language=EN}}</ref> La Varenne applies the process to his ''Oeufs au laict [sic]'' 'eggs with milk', ''Oeufs à la crème'' 'eggs with cream', as well as non-custard dishes such as ''oeufs au miroir de cresme'' 'fried eggs in cream', ''ramequin de fromage'' 'cheese toast', and ''ramequin de roignon'' 'kidney ramequin'.<ref name=":0" /> But none of these had a later of hard caramel on top.


The name "burnt cream" was later used to refer to the dish in the 1702 English translation of Massialot's ''{{Lang|fr|Cuisinier royal et bourgeois}}''.<ref name="McGee2007">{{Cite book |last=McGee |first=Harold |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKVCtH4AjwgC |title=On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen |date=20 March 2007 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-5637-4 |page=97 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=25 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225060412/https://books.google.com/books?id=bKVCtH4AjwgC |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1740, he referred to a similar recipe as ''crême à l'Angloise'', or 'English cream', which further cast doubt on its origins. The dessert was introduced at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] in 1879 as "Trinity Cream" or "Cambridge burnt cream", with the college arms "impressed on top of the cream with a [[branding iron]]".<ref name="Davidson2014" /> No dessert by the name ''crème brûlée'' appeared again in French cookbooks until the 1980s.<ref name="oxon" />
The name "burnt cream" was later used to refer to the dish in the 1702 English translation of Massialot's ''{{Lang|fr|Cuisinier royal et bourgeois}}''.<ref name="McGee2007">{{Cite book |last=McGee |first=Harold |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKVCtH4AjwgC |title=On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen |date=20 March 2007 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-5637-4 |page=97 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=25 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225060412/https://books.google.com/books?id=bKVCtH4AjwgC |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1740, he referred to a similar recipe as ''crême à l'Angloise'', or 'English cream', which further cast doubt on its origins. The dessert was introduced at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] in 1879 as "Trinity Cream" or "Cambridge burnt cream", with the college arms "impressed on top of the cream with a [[branding iron]]".<ref name="Davidson2014" /> No dessert by the name ''crème brûlée'' appeared again in French cookbooks until the 1980s.<ref name="oxon" />


''Crème brûlée'' was generally uncommon in both French and English cookbooks of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.<ref name="oxon">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/905969818 |title=The Oxford companion to sugar and sweets |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-931361-7 |editor-last=Goldstein |editor-first=Darra |location=Oxford |oclc=905969818 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816054741/https://www.worldcat.org/title/oxford-companion-to-sugar-and-sweets/oclc/905969818 |url-status=live }}</ref> It became extremely popular in the 1980s, "a symbol of that decade's self-indulgence and the darling of the restaurant boom",<ref name="Andrews2005" /><ref name="Sax2010">{{Cite book |last=Sax |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fxKwLkFYz4cC&pg=PA149 |title=Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes |date=9 November 2010 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-547-50480-3 |pages=149– |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=21 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221140629/https://books.google.com/books?id=fxKwLkFYz4cC&pg=PA149 |url-status=live }}</ref> probably popularized by [[Sirio Maccioni]] at his New York restaurant ''[[Le Cirque]]''. He claimed to have made it "the most famous and by far the most popular dessert in restaurants from Paris to Peoria".<ref name="oxon" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Maccioni |first1=Sirio |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54677462 |title=Sirio : the story of my life and Le Cirque |last2=Elliot |first2=Peter |date=2004 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=0-471-20456-0 |location=Hoboken, NJ |oclc=54677462 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816054722/https://www.worldcat.org/title/sirio-the-story-of-my-life-and-le-cirque/oclc/54677462 |url-status=live }}</ref>
''Crème brûlée'' was generally uncommon in both French and English cookbooks of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.<ref name="oxon">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/905969818 |title=The Oxford companion to sugar and sweets |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-931361-7 |editor-last=Goldstein |editor-first=Darra |location=Oxford |oclc=905969818 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816054741/https://www.worldcat.org/title/oxford-companion-to-sugar-and-sweets/oclc/905969818 |url-status=live }}</ref> It became extremely popular in the 1980s, "a symbol of that decade's self-indulgence and the darling of the restaurant boom",<ref name="Andrews2005" /><ref name="Sax2010">{{Cite book |last=Sax |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fxKwLkFYz4cC&pg=PA149 |title=Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes |date=9 November 2010 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-547-50480-3 |pages=149– |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=21 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221140629/https://books.google.com/books?id=fxKwLkFYz4cC&pg=PA149 |url-status=live }}</ref> probably popularised by [[Sirio Maccioni]] at his New York restaurant ''[[Le Cirque]]''. He claimed to have made it "the most famous and by far the most popular dessert in restaurants from Paris to Peoria". It also spread from France to other parts in Asia.<ref name="oxon" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Maccioni |first1=Sirio |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54677462 |title=Sirio : the story of my life and Le Cirque |last2=Elliot |first2=Peter |date=2004 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=0-471-20456-0 |location=Hoboken, NJ |oclc=54677462 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816054722/https://www.worldcat.org/title/sirio-the-story-of-my-life-and-le-cirque/oclc/54677462 |url-status=live }}</ref>


==Technique==
==Technique==

Latest revision as of 13:29, 4 June 2024

Crème brûlée
Alternative namesBurned cream, Burnt cream, Trinity cream, Cambridge burnt cream
CourseDessert
Place of originFrance
Serving temperatureRoom temperature
Main ingredientsCream, sugar, egg or egg yolks, vanilla
Breaking French crème brûlée's hard top layer by spoon

Crème brûlée or crème brulée (/ˌkrɛm brˈl/; French: [kʁɛm bʁy.le]), also known as burnt cream or Trinity cream,[1] and virtually identical to crema catalana,[2] is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar. It is normally served slightly chilled; the heat from the caramelizing process tends to warm the top of the custard, while leaving the center cool. The custard base is generally flavored with vanilla in French cuisine, but can have other flavorings. It is sometimes garnished with fruit.

History[edit]

The earliest known recipe of a dessert called crème brûlée appears in François Massialot's 1691 cookbook Cuisinier royal et bourgeois,[3][4] but its ultimate origins are unclear.[5]

The recipe is based on egg yolks and milk, with a pinch of flour. Once cooked, François Massialot specifies "that it must be sweetened on top, in addition to the sugar that is put in it: we take the shovel from the fire, very red at the same time we burn the cream, so that it takes a beautiful color of gold".

Some authors mention Bartolomeo Stefani's Latte alla Spagnuola (1662) as describing crema catalana,[5] but it calls for browning the top of the custard before serving with sugar on top.[6]

The practice of browning dishes with a hot iron was already documented in La Varenne's Cuisinier françois, published in 1651.[7] La Varenne applies the process to his Oeufs au laict [sic] 'eggs with milk', Oeufs à la crème 'eggs with cream', as well as non-custard dishes such as oeufs au miroir de cresme 'fried eggs in cream', ramequin de fromage 'cheese toast', and ramequin de roignon 'kidney ramequin'.[7] But none of these had a later of hard caramel on top.

The name "burnt cream" was later used to refer to the dish in the 1702 English translation of Massialot's Cuisinier royal et bourgeois.[8] In 1740, he referred to a similar recipe as crême à l'Angloise, or 'English cream', which further cast doubt on its origins. The dessert was introduced at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1879 as "Trinity Cream" or "Cambridge burnt cream", with the college arms "impressed on top of the cream with a branding iron".[1] No dessert by the name crème brûlée appeared again in French cookbooks until the 1980s.[3]

Crème brûlée was generally uncommon in both French and English cookbooks of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.[3] It became extremely popular in the 1980s, "a symbol of that decade's self-indulgence and the darling of the restaurant boom",[2][9] probably popularised by Sirio Maccioni at his New York restaurant Le Cirque. He claimed to have made it "the most famous and by far the most popular dessert in restaurants from Paris to Peoria". It also spread from France to other parts in Asia.[3][10]

Technique[edit]

Crème brûlée is usually served in individual ramekins. Discs of caramel may be prepared separately and put on top just before serving, or the caramel may be formed directly on top of the custard immediately before serving. To do this, sugar is sprinkled onto the custard, then caramelized under a red-hot salamander (a cast-iron disk with a long wooden handle) or with a butane torch.[11]

There are two methods for making the custard. The more common creates a "hot" custard by whisking egg yolks in a double boiler with sugar and incorporating the cream, adding vanilla once the custard is removed from the heat.[12] Alternatively, the egg yolk/sugar mixture can be tempered with hot cream, then adding vanilla at the end. In the "cold" method, the egg yolks and sugar are whisked together until the mixture reaches the ribbon stage. Then, cold heavy cream is whisked into the yolk mixture, followed by the vanilla. It is then poured into ramekins and baked in a bain-marie.[13]

The sugar being caramelized with a blowtorch

See also[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Davidson, Alan (21 August 2014). The Oxford Companion to Food. OUP Oxford. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-19-104072-6. Archived from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b Andrews, Colman (3 December 2005). Catalan Cuisine, Revised Edition: Vivid Flavors From Spain's Mediterranean Coast. Harvard Common Press. pp. 247–. ISBN 978-1-55832-329-2. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Goldstein, Darra, ed. (2015). The Oxford companion to sugar and sweets. Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-931361-7. OCLC 905969818. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Grigson, Jane (1 January 1985). Jane Grigson's British Cookery. Atheneum. ISBN 9780689115240. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b Sabban, Françoise; Serventi, Silvano (1998). La gastronomie au Grand Siècle : 100 recettes de France et d'Italie. Oxford University Press. p. 272. ISBN 978-2234050426.
  6. ^ Stefani, Bartolomeo (1622). L'Arte di ben cucinare. pp. 97–98. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  7. ^ a b La Varenne, François Pierre (1651). Le cuisinier françois. pp. 240, 241, 244, 120, 121.
  8. ^ McGee, Harold (20 March 2007). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Simon and Schuster. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-4165-5637-4. Archived from the original on 25 December 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  9. ^ Sax, Richard (9 November 2010). Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 149–. ISBN 978-0-547-50480-3. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  10. ^ Maccioni, Sirio; Elliot, Peter (2004). Sirio : the story of my life and Le Cirque. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-20456-0. OCLC 54677462. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  11. ^ Cloake, Felicity (19 September 2012). "How to cook perfect creme brulee". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Vanilla-bean creme brulee". www.taste.com.au. 25 November 2010. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  13. ^ Delp, Valorie. "Creme Brulee History and Recipe". LoveToKnow. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.

General and cited references[edit]

External links[edit]