Dulce De Leche Creme Caramel

Before I say anything, today I want to wish all my Indian readers a very Happy Republic Day! 🙂 Long live the Republic of India! No matter how far you are from home, days like these fill your heart with pride and only pride. I am so proud to be an Indian. Jai Hind!

And now let’s first talk about the weekend. Did you do anything special? We did nothing much other than regular grocery shopping but the good part is that it was so sunny and bright in Seattle over the weekend! We had temperatures in 60s and it was so nice that it felt almost like summer. I hope the sunshine continues because I dislike the grey sky so much, it just make me sad and depressed.

Can you believe the 1st month of January is going to end, seriously where does the time fly? And which also means that Valentine’s Day is less than 3 weeks away! While I don’t think we need a special day to celebrate love but I get excited to create homemade desserts and food gifts. So beginning today, I will be bringing you some awesome dessert recipes for Valentine’s Day. The step by step pictures will ensure that you will be able to impress your love with the most fancy desserts this Valentine’s Day! So are you guys ready to say hello to my 1st V-Day dessert? 😉

Crème Caramel,the name sounds so fancy, isn’t it? Let’s make it even fancier and add Dulce De Leche to it. How does it sound now – Dulce De Leche Crème Caramel? like you are in sitting in a fancy restaurant somewhere and trying to figure out what exactly this dessert is!

This might just be THE dessert you want to make for Valentines Day this year. I am telling you guys, it looks so fancy, tastes incredible and I think that’s enough to impress your love. Creme Caramel is basically baked custard  and very similar to Creme Brulee. The difference here is that we pour the caramel into the mold before adding the custard base and of course we don’t need a torch here to brown the sugar on top! To make it special for Valentine’s Day, I added dulce de leche to the custard base. I fell in love with this flavor ever since I first tasted it in US some 2-3 years back. Dulce de leche is one of my favorite ice cream flavors and so when I add it to creme caramel, it automatically becomes my favorite dessert!

To make Creme Caramel extra smooth and creamy, you need to follow these 3 steps!

#1 Sour cream: this is the secret ingredient which I added to make the custard silky smooth, heavy cream might also work.

#2 Strain the custard: this is must to get rid of all the grit, the custard should be totally smooth.

#3 Baking the custard with ramekins half submerged in hot water: this method is called Bain Marie where water acts as a barrier between direct heat and custard, which allows the custard to cook evenly and smoothly.

You see how silky smooth my creme caramel was by just looking at this picture!

You have to extremely careful while making the caramel. First do not try to stir the sugar with a spatula, once it starts melting just stir the pan using it’s handle. And please be very careful to not touch the caramel under any circumstances. It’s super hot and once long back I dipped my finger in the pan while making caramel and got quite a deep burn. Thank god it was a small burn but still it’s very important to be careful while making caramel.

You will know the creme caramel is done when you shake the ramekin, the custard will jiggle a little but the center will appear set. That’s when you know it’s done, if the center is also all jiggly the custard isn’t done yet. It can take anywhere between 45-50 minutes. Invert the creme caramel onto the serving plates after it has cooled down a little but is still warm, this results in more caramel sauce on the plate!

To make your dessert look even fancier, use the remaining caramel in the ramekins [which didn’t come out when you inverted the ramekins on the serving plate] and make random designs on a silicone mat or parchment paper. Since it’s all sugar, it will harden quickly and you can then use those to decorate your dessert. And so there you have it, once fancy looking dessert for Valentine’s Day! Stay tuned for much more in the coming weeks!

Method

Take four 6 oz ramekins and spray them with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl add the egg, egg yolks, salt and dulce de leche. I have not added any sugar here as dulce de leche is already quite sweet. 

Whisk for 2-3 minutes till mixture is all smooth.

Add in the sour cream, milk and vanilla extract.

Whisk till well combined and mixture is smooth.

Using a mesh strainer, sieve the mixture into another bowl. This will make sure that the resulting creme caramel is all smooth. The custard base is now ready.

Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.

We now prepare the caramel. Take granulated sugar in pan on medium heat.

Do not put any spatula in the pan [and of course not under any circumstance try to touch the pan!], once the sugar starts melting keep stirring the pan holding it’s handle.

Sugar will melt and turn golden in color eventually. The caramel can go from brown to black in seconds so be very careful and once you see that deep golden color, remove from heat.

Distribute the caramel equally into 4 prepared ramekins. You have to do this quickly and carefully. As the caramel is hot, it will spread on it’s own in the ramekin but do it immediately after removing the caramel from heat as it hardens pretty quickly.

Now pour the prepared custard over the caramel. Divide the custard equally into 4 ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large baking dish and pour warm tap around in it till ramekins are half submerged in water. This method is called Bain Marie and helps in creating a uniform heat around the custard as water creates a kind of drift between direct heat and ramekins and so the custard gets cooked more evenly. Place the baking dish in a 325 F degree preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.

The custard is done when it jiggles when you shake the ramekin but the center isn’t wobbly.

Take the ramekins out carefully out of the baking dish and let them cool for 5 minutes. Take a serving plate and invert a ramekin on it. Inverting it while it’s still warm gives more caramel on the plate, which I personally love. Repeat with remaining ramekins.

Refrigerate the Dulce De Leche Creme Caramel for a minimum of 4 hours before serving or preferable overnight. Serve with some whipped cream and raspberry on top!

* It’s not mandatory to chill the creme caramel before serving. It’s just that I feel it tastes better when chilled.

* Be very careful while making the caramel. You don’t want to burn yourself or the caramel!

* I did not add any sugar in the recipe since dulce de leche is already quite sweet and makes up for sugar. The sweetness was perfect for me but in case you like sweeter desserts, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar along with the dulce de leche.

Dulce De Leche Crème Caramel

Manali

Silky Smooth Dulce De Leche Creme Caramel is the ultimate elegant dessert to whip up this Valentine's Day!

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Course Dessert

Servings 4

Calories 234 kcal

Ingredients

For the caramel

• ▢ ½ cup + 1 tablespoons granulated white sugar for the caramel

For the custard

• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 3 egg yolk
• ▢ ½ cup sour cream
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons dulce de leche [i used store bought]
• ▢ ½ cup whole milk
• ▢ 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ nonstick spray

Instructions

 

• Take four 6 oz ramekins and spray them with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.
• In a large bowl add the egg, egg yolks, salt and dulce de leche.
• Whisk for 2-3 minutes till mixture is all smooth.
• Add in the sour cream, milk and vanilla.
• Whisk till well combined and mixture is smooth.
• Using a mesh strainer, sieve the mixture into another bowl. This makes sure that the resulting creme caramel is all smooth. Our custard base is now ready.
• Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.
• We now prepare the caramel. Take granulated sugar in pan on medium heat.
• Do not put any spatula in the pan [and of course not under any circumstance try to touch the pan!], once the sugar starts melting keep stirring the pan holding it's handle.
• Sugar will melt and turn golden in color eventually. The caramel can go from brown to black in seconds so be very careful and once you see that deep golden color, remove from heat.
• Distribute the caramel equally into 4 prepared ramekins.
• You have to do this quickly and carefully. As the caramel is hot, it will spread on it's own in the ramekin but do it immediately after removing the caramel from heat as it hardens pretty quickly.
• Now pour the prepared custard over the caramel. Divide the custard equally into 4 ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large baking dish and pour warm tap around in it till ramekins are half submerged in water. This helps the custard to cook more evenly.
• Place the baking dish in a 325 F degree preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.
• The custard is done when it jiggles when you shake the ramekin but the center isn't wobbly.
• Take the ramekins out carefully out of the baking dish and let them cool for 5 minutes.
• Take a serving plate and invert a ramekin on it. Inverting it while it's still warm gives more caramel sauce on the plate, which I personally love. Repeat with remaining ramekins.
• Refrigerate the dulce de leche creme caramel for a minimum of 4 hours before serving or preferably overnight.
• Serve with some whipped cream and raspberry on top!

Nutrition

Calories: 234kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 5gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 205mgSodium: 349mgPotassium: 110mgSugar: 27gVitamin A: 485IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 90mgIron: 0.6mg

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 Dulce De Leche Crème Caramel