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Blancmange Brûlée

Jessica
A blancmange is a European dessert traditionally made with a gelatin-based thickener. This dessert is seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire during the Triwizard Tournament feast. This version has a little twist to the traditional recipe. It gives a combination of blancmange with a crème brûlée recipe, hence the name Blancmange Brûlée. It is a much denser custard with a hint of almond flavoring and a caramelized sugar topping.
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 1 hr
Total Time 5 hrs 30 mins
Course Desserts
Cuisine French
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 10 egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 4 cups heavy cream
  • 2 tsp. almond extract

Instructions
 

  • In a bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns a pale yellow color. This takes about 2-3 minutes with a handheld electric mixer. Set aside.
  • In a sauce pan, bring heavy cream and almond extract to a boil on medium-high heat. Stir constantly to prevent heavy cream from burning. When bubbles begin to appear, turn off the stove and remove. Set aside.
  • Ladle out about one ounce of the hot heavy cream into the yolk mixture while whisking vigorously. You must whisk before and after pouring the hot heavy cream to avoid cooking the egg. Repeat this step a few more times to bring up the temperature of the egg yolk mixture. (This is called tempering.)
  • After tempering the egg mixture, pour remaining heavy cream mixture into bowl and continue to whisk away until fully incorporated.
  • Pour completed mixture into another bowl through a fine strainer (this removes any scrambled egg-like clumps). Divide mixture into ramekins, making sure they are equal.
  • Pour water into 2" tall baking pan about halfway up the pan. Place pan in the center of oven. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • Once oven is hot, place ramekins inside the baking pan carefully. Make sure water is halfway up ramekins. If more water is needed, add it carefully.
  • Take a piece of foil and tent the baking pan. This means folding the foil in half and placing it over the baking pan. This prevents the top of the custard from burning.
  • Bake brûlée for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. To check for proper cooking, jiggle one of the ramekins. It is finished when there is only a slight jiggle in the center. If it jiggles like Jell-O it is not finished.
  • Carefully remove baking pan from oven when finished baking. Remove ramekins from water bath immediately. Let ramekins cool on the counter for an hour. Then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
  • For the topping, take 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and sprinkle evenly on top until a thin layer is equally distributed. Burn the sugar in a circular motion until caramelized evenly with a culinary torch. Serve immediately.

Notes

  • If you want to make a traditional crème brûlée, use 2 vanilla bean pods (scraped) or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead of the 2 teaspoons of almond extract.