Crème brûlée
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Crème brûlée (French for "burnt cream"; pronounced /ˌkrɛm bruːˈleɪ/ in English, IPA: [kʁɛm bʁyˈle] in French) is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill, or with a blowtorch or other intense heat source. It is usually served cold in individual ramekins.
The custard base is normally flavoured with just vanilla, but it can be enhanced with chocolate, a liqueur, fruit, etc. Sometimes the hardened sugar on top will be given a Maillard reaction, or caramelization, by igniting a thin layer of liqueur sprinkled over the top (illustration).
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[edit] History
The exact origins of this dish are unknown, though the earliest known reference to it is in France in François Massialot's 1691 cookbook,[1] and the French name was used in the English translation of this book, but the 1731 edition of Massialot's Cuisine roial et bourgeoise changed the name of the same recipe from "crème brûlée" to "crème à l'Angloise". [2] In the early eighteenth century, the dessert was called "burnt cream" in English.[3]
In Britain, at Trinity College, Cambridge, where crème brûlée was introduced in 1879,[4] the college arms were "impressed on top of the cream with a branding iron".[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] Bibliography
- Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food, ISBN 0192115790.
- "Origin of Crème Brûlée", Petits Propos Culinaires 31:61 (March 1989).
[edit] References
- ^ French 1691 recipe with historical notes
- ^ Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen (Simon and Shuster) 2004:97; McGee notes "An English model for 'English cream' hasn't yet been unearthed."
- ^ The Oxford English Dictionary has a 1723 quotation.
- ^ Florence White, quoted in Davidson
- ^ Davidson, s.v. crème brûlée; Smith, Delia (1997). Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course. page 482: BBC. ISBN 0563362499.
