Travel with creme brulee

[zane]

I need to make about 20 creme brulees for a party, how can I make them in one kitchen and then travel an hour with them with out using a ramekin?

 

[blueicus]

I'm not sure I understand your question... do you not want them in ramekins?  Or do you want to unmould them?

 

[zane]

I want to make them in the ramekin but be able to transport them with out having them in.
 

 

[petemccracken]

I want to make them in the ramekin but be able to transport them with out having them in.
 

Huh? Peraps I do not understand, in my experience, Creme Brule is served in the ramekin.

I would cook them in the ramekins, chill thoroughly, pack in cold chest for transport, and torch the caramelized sugar just before service.

Why would you want to take them out of the ramekins?
 

 

[zane]

Mix of lack of having 20 ramkins and I can think of innovated ways to plate them.

 

[kyheirloomer]

You can buy throw-away foil ramikins cheaply enough, Zane. Then, if you must (like Pete I don't understand the reason for it) unmold them on location, where they're more likely to hold together.

Unmolding means, among other things, that you'll be firing the bottoms, rather than the tops.

If your goal is a free-standing custard dessert, why not just go with flan to begin with?

 

[titomike]

Wtf..good luck unmoulding a brulee! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/surprised.gif

 

[kuan]

Maybe you can line the sides with plastic wrap.

Yuck.

 

[titomike]

You seem like the the kind of guy that might give it a go 'cos its all in the execution...

Cut some rounds from a thin guage pvc downpipe that are just taller than your desired brulee.
Make a light caramel and pour hot in circles just bigger than your greased moulds on an oiled cookie sheet...lay them down and allow to set then scrape away the excess.
Make a stove-top brulee mix heavier on yolks or don't be shy to use a little flour or gelatin...your in the construction business now!

Fill your moulds, chill & transport.
To prep for serving...if the caramel is sticky to your fish-slice by now, heat the cookie sheet from chilled to carefully to 'dry' the caramel if necessary weight the moulds to keep a seal. Chill to set.
Flip on the plate, unmould with your purpose built plunger thing so as not to break the caramel...might work.
 

 

[mikelm]

Zane...

If you plan to take your brulees out of the ramekins before you serve them, I suggest you add a few tablespoons of Plaster of Paris to the recipe.

Good luck   /img/vbsmilies/smilies/rollsmile.gif

Mike

 

[petemccracken]

Hm, are you "fixed" on Creme Brule?

Perhaps a Flan would work out better?

 

[gypsy2727]

You seem like the the kind of guy that might give it a go 'cos its all in the execution...

Cut some rounds from a thin guage pvc downpipe that are just taller than your desired brulee.
Make a light caramel and pour hot in circles just bigger than your greased moulds on an oiled cookie sheet...lay them down and allow to set then scrape away the excess.
Make a stove-top brulee mix heavier on yolks or don't be shy to use a little flour or gelatin...your in the construction business now!

Fill your moulds, chill & transport.
To prep for serving...if the caramel is sticky to your fish-slice by now, heat the cookie sheet from chilled to carefully to 'dry' the caramel if necessary weight the moulds to keep a seal. Chill to set.
Flip on the plate, unmould with your purpose built plunger thing so as not to break the caramel...might work.
 

Titomike are you refering to Creme Caramel?

I would stay with the ramekin .....it is meant to be with the mighty but soft Brulee
 

 

[titomike]

Gypsy...

Mix of.... lack of having 20 ramekins and that I can think of innovative ways to plate them.

Our man Zane is daring to dream....I'd say this'll need to be the love child of a dark and mysterious panna cotta /img/vbsmilies/smilies/cool.gif and... "the mighty but soft Brulee" /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mullet.gif                  ...../img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

 

[boar_d_laze]

Are we actually talking about creme brulee?   Custards you sprinkle sugar on and then torch the sugar so it melts and forms a crackly, "brulee" crust when it cools? 

When and where are you planning to brulee them? If you're planning on doing the brulee before transporting, I don't think they can be unmolded to begin with, and even if the could, doubt they could be be transported without the custard collapsing or the top sliding off. 

I suppose you could make them very, very hard with a ton of gelatin like a cheap buffet pannacotta, but that's not exactly a creme and why would you want to do it anyway?   

Do you really want to brulee a creme after it's been unmolded?  Seems dangerous and pointless.

You could hollow out some oranges or small grapfruit, put a little zest in the creme, then mold, hold, transport, brulee and serve the creme in the peel "shells" I suppose.  Dated, though. 

BDL

 

[blueicus]

It's possible to have an unmoulded creme brulee, it just takes a bit of effort.  However pre-bruleeing it is not recommended.

 

[zane]

What about torching it in the ramkin and then soaking in warm water to make it unmoldable? It works with panna cotta why not brulee?

 

[petalsandcoco]

Zane,

Yes it works with panna cotta but have you ever did a test run with the ramekin ? Here is where your problem may lie, it will unmold in some parts, either the sides or the bottom but more than likely your dish will run, put heated water to any creme brulee and you will see within seconds just how fast it will melt, the temp cannot be controlled....you will unmold and it will melt fast, faster before you will have time to refrigerate it to save it.

maybe do a sample run.....but remember , there are 20 that need to be plated and decorated and out the door in a relative short time.

just a thought.

 

[boar_d_laze]

To each her own, and I hasten to add that I'm barely competent when it comes to desserts, but the type of creme I make for and generally associate with creme brulee couldn't support itself outside of a ramekin, mold, cocotte or whatever, unless it was very, very cold. 

I couldn't imagine torching it, au naturel, that's for sure.    

BDL

 

[titomike]

Zane...

A brulee is set custard...set by cooking out the yolks. A pannacotta is set cream...set with gelatin. Both should have a perfectly smooth texture and just hold the cut of the spoon, by this standard neither should or can be turned out as they don't support their own weight.

Slightly more set pannacottas can but for the stress & wastage involved, imho, it's not worth the bother. I like them best in a martini glass where the shape, fleck, layering, saucing achieve visual appeal without the drama and the dish remains true to intent...imho.

If you want to tweak a brulee its best done in the flavouring...I've tried a cream/coconut cream mix then bruleed sliced bananas on the top...but couldn't get the texture described above. Orange and cardamom is my favourite...

So to achieve a turned out brulee you will lose the integrity of the dish with no appreciable 'point of difference' over a creme caramel, leche flan etc. In other words the design premise is weak to begin with. Your market research here is telling you ...why? ...wtf?

That said...The 'D' in R&D stands for development, we await your results with trepidation.

Or you cound expend your energy on a stronger concept...maybe sugar work on a  turned out, yolk-enriched pannacotta...

 

[boar_d_laze]

The "creme" custard for a brulee shouldn't be hard set, but barely set.  A great part of what makes the dessert good is the contrast in textures and temperatures between the warm, crackling brulee top and the soft, cool creme. 

The dessert is so trite and overplayed that you're either spot on or might as well use Royal flan, with some crushed butterscotch hard candies melted on top.  Actually, the second would be a great deal better than a great many creme brulees you find in many "fine dining" establishments.

I'm all for experimenting, but once before you're in quantities of 20 you should have a really good idea of what's going on. 

I think you'd be better off baking individual cheesecakes in mini-fluted tins, or even cupcake liners, unmolding them onsite into plates puddled with fruit sauce and bruleeing the tops, than trying to screw around with a creme.  At least you have a ghost of a chance they'll hold up. 

If you want to go retro with individual desserts, how about an excellent, biscuit type, fruit shortcake?  Blackberry maybe.  Not everyone can bake a good biscuit.

BDL

BDL