Tangerine Crème Caramel
Crème Caramel has always been one of my favorite desserts. This version is made with tangerine juice and served with Grand Marnier plumped apricots and candied tangerine peel. This is a rather lengthy recipe since there are so many components that accompany the custard, however, a very simple version of just the custard and caramel could be achieved with very little effort.
Making Caramel:
The first step in the recipe is to make the caramel. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan (a small Copper Sugar Pot is ideal) and place over high heat. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar turns a golden brown.
Filling Ramekins with Caramel:
Immediately pour the caramel into the bottom of four small (175 ml or 6-ounce) glass ramekins (or similar ramekins like these 6-ounce soufflé cups), dividing the mixture evenly between them, tipping the cups to spread the caramel as necessary to coat the bottom evenly. Work quickly or the caramel will set up and you won’t be able to pour it. If you use a copper pot like the one pictured above, it will retain its heat much longer and give you a little more time to work with the caramel.
TOOL TIP:
For a total splurge, or for the baker who has almost every tool, I highly recommend this Copper Sugar Pot. I picked mine up in France many years ago and it is a bit smaller than this option. This pot is 1.9-quarts and is indispensable for sugar work, everything from pralines, caramels and hard candies to Italian meringue and buttercream frostings.
These 6-ounce glass Pyrex bowls are perfect for this recipe of Crème Caramel and a thousand other uses in the kitchen from prep and storage bowls to molds for terrines and my Keshi Yená.
Plumped Apricots:
The dried apricots are plumped in a poaching liquid made with Grand Marnier, tangerine juice (reserving the peels for the candied peel below), sugar and corn syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil, add the apricots and poach for 5 minutes, plumping them. With a slotted spoon, carefully remove the apricots from the pan and spread them out on a plate to cool. The remaining poaching liquid is then reduced and used to flavor the custard.
Candied Tangerine Peel:
I have written an entire post on the process of candying orange peel, and for this recipe, just substitute the orange peel with tangerine peel. It is a fairly simple process of peeling the tangerines, remove extra white pith, slice the peel into thin strips and blanch the strips to remove any bitterness. The final step is cook the blanched peels in a simple syrup, drain off the liquid and toss the strips in granulated sugar to evenly coat them.
Make the Custard:
For the custard, combine the heavy cream, milk, scraped vanilla bean and tangerine reduction (from Step 3 above) in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and egg yolk. When the cream mixture simmers, whisk it slowly into the egg mixture. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and divide the custard between the four prepared (coated with caramel) ramekins.
Pour the Custard in Cups and Bake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bring some water to a boil in a teakettle or saucepan for the water bath. Place the filled ramekins in a baking pan with tall sides and fill the pan with the boiling water, reaching halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes or until the custard firms up. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Plating and Final Garnish:
Loosen the custard from the ramekins by carefully inserting a thin knife along the outside rim and rotating the ramekins to break the seal. Invert the ramekins over the center of the serving plates and the custard should fall right out. Remove the ramekins.
Divide the plumped apricots between the four plates, resting one on top of each custard. Sprinkle the plates with the candied tangerine peel and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprig of fresh mint. In the photo above (from my Loire Foodie trip), Charlene and Nancy assist me in plating up the dessert. Notice, we substituted tangerine segments for the plumped apricots.
Variations:
Here is a variation of the recipe where I added Amaretto liqueur and crushed almonds to the custard and decorated the custard with sliced almonds and berries. The lattice bowl holding the berries (and garnishing the photo on the recipe) is made with poured caramel, in this case, formed over the glass ramekin. For a plain “Vanilla” Crème Caramel, use the custard recipe below and just omit the tangerine reduction. Another amazing variation that I like, is “Ginger” Crème Caramel. See my video and post on Fresh Ginger, and replace the tangerine reduction with 2 Tablespoons of grated fresh ginger. The ginger flavor will infuse into the cream and milk mixture and the ginger will be strained out in the end, leaving behind only an essence. Garnish with some crystallized ginger.
Tangerine Crème Caramel
Course: DessertCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Medium4
servings1
hour40
minutesIngredients
- Caramel
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons water
- Plumped Apricots
2 fresh tangerines
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup Grand Marnier liqueur
1 cup water
16 dried apricots
- Custard
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and seeds scraped out
Tangerine reduction (from the Plumped Apricots, recipe above)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
- Candied Tangerine Peel
Tangerine peel (reserved from the Plumped Apricots, recipe above)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Garnish
Whipped Cream
4 sprigs of fresh spearmint
Directions
- Caramel
- Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan (or copper sugar pot) and place over high heat. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar turns a golden brown.
- Immediately pour the caramel into the bottom of four small (175 ml or 6-ounce) glass ramekins, dividing the mixture evenly between them. Work quickly or the caramel will set up and you won’t be able to pour it.
- Plumped Apricots
- Peel the skin from the tangerines using a vegetable peeler and reserve for the Candied Tangerine Peel (recipe below).
- Juice the tangerines and place the juice in a small saucepan, making sure there are no pits. Add the sugar, corn syrup, Grand Marnier and water in a medium (4 quart) saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the dried apricots and cover the pan. Poach the apricots for 5 minutes, plumping them. With a slotted spoon, carefully remove the apricots from the pan and spread them out on a plate to cool.
- Reduce the tangerine juice over medium-high heat until it has reduced to about 1/4 cup and reserve for the Custard (recipe below).
- Custard
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bring some water to a boil in a teakettle or saucepan for the water bath.
- Combine the heavy cream, milk, scraped vanilla bean and tangerine reduction (from Step 3 above) in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and egg yolk.
- When the cream mixture simmers, whisk it slowly into the egg mixture. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and divide the custard between the four prepared ramekins. Place the filled ramekins in a baking pan with tall sides and fill the pan with the boiling water, reaching halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes or until the custard firms up. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
- Candied Tangerine Peel
- Using a sharp knife, remove as much of the white pith as possible from the tangerine skin. The white pith is very bitter, so removal is imperative.
- Slice the skin into very thin strips and place in a small saucepan with 1 cup of cold water. Bring to a boil, drain off the liquid, and continue again with another cup of cold water. Continue this blanching three times.
- Drain off the last of the water and place 1/4 cup of the sugar in the saucepan with the tangerine peel along with 1/4 cup of cold water. Place the pan over medium-high heat and reduce, stirring, until all of the liquid is gone.
- Turn the peel out onto a silicone nonstick mat (or a piece of parchment paper) and toss with the remaining 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Let dry for about 1 hour and place in a covered container until serving. Store at room temperature.
- Plating and Garnish
- Loosen the custard from the ramekins by carefully inserting a thin knife along the outside rim and rotating the ramekins to break the seal. Invert the ramekins over the center of the serving plates and the custard should fall right out. Remove the ramekins.
- Divide the plumped apricots between the four plates, resting one on top of each custard. Sprinkle the plates with the candied tangerine peel and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprig of fresh mint.
