Vanilla bean caramel custard

We are back with a recipe after what seems like eons and a promise to have more recipes going forward. Folks who have been patient and not given up on us, thank you and we love you! :) We are breaking the hiatus with a perennial favorite at most homes in Kerala, the quintessential Caramel Custard. The reason it enjoys that status is probably because it is fast, easy, kinda healthy considering it only has milk, eggs and sugar AND can be made with ingredients already existing in the pantry. Plus, it can make a statement all on its own. I remember my mother whipping these up pretty often; she'd steam it in the rice cooker too and I remember eating it by the spoonfuls even when steaming hot!
It is versatile, you can infuse any number of ingredients, exotic or otherwise (i'm thinking saffron, pistachio and chocolate to name a few). It can be eaten cold or for the more weird ones like me, warm. When made the traditional way, it borders on comfort-food-ism and who can say no to that?

I made a simple variant, the vanilla bean caramel custard because I had a vanilla bean at hand.
Two eggs did not feel overpoweringly eggy, but feel free to reduce the amount of egg used if you feel the need - it may not set as well when baked being the only downside. If you try it, let me know how it goes.

For the custard:
-400 ml milk
-100 ml condensed milk
-2 eggs
-20 g sugar (or as per taste)
-1 vanilla bean
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the caramel:
-20 g sugar
-3 tablespoons water

Prep the ramekins by placing them in a large, flat tray that can hold the ramekins as well as water halfway upto the height of the ramekins.
Mix the milk and condensed milk and scrape the innards of the vanilla bean into it along with the bean. Heat the mixture in a medium sized saucepan and bring it to the boil. Let it simmer for 2 minutes before switching off the flame and closing it with a lid and leaving it to steep for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 170C.
Whisk the eggs and sugar till incorporated and add the hot milk mixture through a strainer in a steady stream. Keep whisking the egg mixture with the other hand just to make sure the eggs do not cook. Whisk well, taste to see if it is sweet enough and then pour into the prepared ramekins. Place in the oven and let it bake till just set, but still wobbly when touched (you do not want it to set firm). That was about under 30 minutes in my oven.
Once cooled, refrigerate, and when ready to eat, run a knife carefully around the rim and turn it over onto your saucer/dessert plate. Watch the amber caramel ooze around the custard - Bliss!

Vanilla bean Panna Cotta with Blueberry Coulis

Believe it or not, quite a few things remain unchanged in spite of the new year. and, yes, my love for Blueberries remains. This is a relatively lower fat version as compared to the other many panna cotta recipes i've seen on the net, in that, it uses the 1:4 ratio for the cream-milk ratio. Rest assured, in no way does it affect the texture of the dessert and it is actually healthier for the heart (or at least that is how i fool myself)

You will need:

- 3/4 cup milk

-1/4 cup cream

-1/4 cup -1 tablespoon vanilla sugar (or depending on your tastebuds)

- 1 1/4 teaspoon gelatin

-2 tablespoons cold water

-1 vanilla bean

For the coulis:

-1 cup Blueberry preserve/pie filling

 

-Heat the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla bean in a thick bottomed saucepan. Bring it to a boil, let it simmer for a minute and then switch off the flame. Scrape the innards from the bean, drop it into the milk mixture and and leave the bean in as well. Close with a lid and leave to steep for half an hour.

-Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and keep aside for 10 minutes.

-Pass the milk through a strainer. Heat it again and remove from heat before it boils. Add the gelatin and mix to make sure the gelatin dissolves well.

-Pour in the individual moulds and cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight.

Before serving, pour 2 tablespoons (or as per your taste requirements) of the blueberry pie filling over the panna cotta and refrigerate. Serve and  enjoy!

Vanilla bean loaf

                                

Here's sending a vanilla bean loaf your way, a break from all the chocolate. So whats so cool about this recipe:  

works just as great in a circular cake tin or a loaf tin,

has no eggs or butter in the recipe!!

is loaded with fresh vanilla scraped from the pod (!)

is an awesome cake to pair with jam, nutella, coffee, milk or a plain grey afternoon

you can see the vanilla peek through the cake! (notice the gorgeous tiny black specks in the cake?) 

This cake yields a moist cake with a fabulous crumb.

                                                  

The recipe was adapted from here with a few changes of my own.

You will need:

1 cup + 3/4 cup AP flour

1/4 cup Corn flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon Baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon less than 1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean to scrape the inside goodness

-Pre heat oven to 175 ^oC and butter the pan/tin that you will be using and keep aside. Sieve maida with corn flour to ensure it is mixed evenly.
-Mix the buttermilk and sugar in a separate bowl. Add the baking powder and baking soda and let it rest for 2 – 3 minutes.

This mix will froth. Add the oil and vanilla extract and blend for 2 minutes using a hand blnder.

Slit the vanilla bean sideways and using a shaped edged, thin and handy knife, scrape out the vanilla from inside and add to the buttermilk mix.Continue to blend till it becomes a homogeneous mix.

Add the flour a little by little and continue to mix till incorporated.

Pour into prepared tin and place in the center of oven. Bake for 35-40 min or till it passes the skewer test.
Allow to cool in pan before turning it over onto a plate. Once cooled, slice and enjoy with a spread of your choice.

Is that enough nutella? :P

Vanilla Gelato and a triumphant beginning

Whoever said you need an ice cream maker to make a gelato? hogwash! Who said u need egg to make creamy ice cream?  Baloney! and you cant make delish ice cream yourself? Nonsense! If that does not motivate you enough, i do not know what will. My mom used to make ice creams when we were growing up and we used to love it, crystallized in parts as it was. We used to badger her to make more. And somehow that taste lay in a corner of my mind amidst so many other childhood memories that i associate to smells and tastes till i chanced upon this. and i knew i had to try it. Thanks Aparna for rekindling these old fires! :)

I decided to go simple and do the ultra basic stuff as it was my first time. Now that i know this is a winner, i have already concocted various sinful combinations in my head.

What you will need to make a box of Vanilla Gelato that will feed 3 very passionate gelato lovers or 6 regular mortals (you may just hop over to the other side after this, mind it!):

3 cups milk (i used toned to justify the name 'gelato' but you could use regular full cream milk and still call it one)
100 ml cream
3 scant tablespoons corn flour
3/4 cup vanilla sugar
1 average length vanilla bean

How you go about it:

-Keep aside a quarter cup of the milk and keep aside till further use.
-Pour the remaining milk into a saucepan, add the sugar and and bring it to the boil. Add the split and chopped vanilla bean along with the scraped out vanilla goodness from the bean. Lower the flame and let the milk simmer for about 7 minutes or so. Cover with lid and keep aside for an hour while the vanilla is infused into the milk.
-Strain the milk to remove the bits of the vanilla bean and pour the milk back into the saucepan. Bring it to the boil and let it simmer.

-Add the corn flour to the quarter of milk that was kept aside and whisk to ensure there are no lumps.
-Add this mix to the saucepan of milk and stir continuously to ensure no lumps form. Whisk over the flame till it reaches a custard like consistency and when the spoon is lifted, it coats the back of your spoon.
- Take it off the flame and allow it too cool and make sure you stir it to prevent a skin from forming.
-Add the cream to this mix and whisk by hand to ensure it becomes a homogeneous mix.
-Pour into a sufficiently large and flat bottomed box that can be kept in the freezer and freeze till set.
-Once set, beat the ice cream till its mushy. This is so that we break down the crystals. Return back to the freezer to set. Once set, blend/beat it again till mushy. Repeat this process thrice and you get the creamiest, best home made ice cream made without an ice cream churner!

-Once set, you may drizzle chocolate sauce and dulce de leche or any other sauce of your fancy. That's the beauty of a vanilla gelato, it complements almost anything.
and there my bellissime people is your Gelato  :) This is only the beginning of many more to come!