“For me it was always a simple passion” Lance Armstrong
This is a sunshine post for Barbara of Winos & Foodies. She’s back with her ‘ Taste of Yellow‘ event, and my yolks were screaming yellow at me. In Barbara’s words, “LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow is my way of supporting the Lance Armstrong Foundation by raising awareness of cancer issues world wide. It is a way for all food and wine bloggers to share their stories. The happy and the sad, the struggles and the triumphs. If you are lucky and have not be touched by cancer you are still welcome to participate.”The Yellow Wristband Project
For champion cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, yellow is more than just the color of the Tour de France’s leader jersey. It’s a symbol for hope, courage, and perseverance. Today, more than 47.5 million LIVESTRONG wristbands have been sold since they were first made available in May of 2004 to raise funds for the programs of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF).
I’ve been meaning to make creme brulee or at least creme custard for ages, but my dislike for eggy smells has kept me at bay. No longerthough. Now that I finally had this lovely big bag of vanilla beans that Ria managed to source for me from South India, I had to make the custard right away.
The elegant dessert creme brulee has a thick pudding base of cream and eggs topped by a delicate layer of caramelized sugar. In French, “creme brulee” means “burnt cream,” which refers to the process by which sprinkled sugar gets heated to a temperature that caramelizes it to a delicious brown. The traditional method of cooking this type of custard has evolved many flavored variations.
My custard is a fusion of flavours, Thai I think. I had ginger in the fridge, and lots of lemon grass growing in my little patch outside, so I googled for ideas. There I was – A Ginger Lemon-Grass Creme Brulee I found here. None of the flavours in the custard were overpowering or overwhelming. Just simple subtle flavours, combining elegantly to flavour the custard. Simple enough to be enjoyed by the kids too. I did have trouble with the brulee though since I don’t have a blow torch. It took forever for the sugar to caramelise under the hot grill & I was a bit wary of my custard melting. 4 ramekins later, I cheated a little and took a shortcut for the remaining few. I caramelised some sugar to very brown in a pan & quickly poured it on top of the chilled custard. Tilted the ramekins immediately to spread it, kept it thin… Unauthentic, but it got me to some sort of brulee stage alright! Later even tried to spin some sugar with not very good results!
Ginger Lemon-Grass Creme Brulee Adapted from recipe byEric LanlardfromGlamour Puds Ingredients: 400ml single cream 125ml whole milk 6 large eggs 100g of caster sugar 1 vanilla pod 2 stem of lemongrass, chopped 1 stem of fresh ginger Demerara sugar for sprinkling
Method:
Preheat the oven to 140C. Put the ginger and lemon grass in a pestle and mortar and bruise well to release flavours. In a saucepan add the cream, milk, split vanilla pod and the lemongrass and ginger paste then heat slowly until hot but not boiling. Leave to infuse for an hour. (or overnight which is what I did). Reheat to almost boiling just before use. In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs with the sugar until white and fluffy. Slowly pour the hot cream over the egg mixture mixing continuously. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Pour the cream into lightly greased ramekins bake it for approximately 30 minutes until the mixture is wobbly.
Leave to cool down. Cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours, or even overnight. Sprinkle about 2 tsps demerara sugar on the top of each and caramelize with a blow torch for 1-2 minutes before serving. Or set the ramekins on a baking sheet and slide it under the broiler. Broil, watching constantly and rotating the pan for even caramelization, until the toppings are bubbling and a rich brown, about 2 or 3 minutes, depending on the intensity of the heat.
