Coffee Crème Caramel

While making this coffee crème caramel in my kitchen one afternoon, I overheard some screechy conversation and realised that I had some visitors out on the balcony.

They were pretty loud. And I gathered they might've been having a bit of a disagreement out there.

Maybe I could ameliorate this awkward situation by offering them some food? Afterall, I've been told that good food sometimes has the effect of lessening the severity of arguments! (And I'm guessing bad food would have the opposite effect.)

So what do birds eat? Seeds right?

I immediately went to the health food section of my pantry and brought some chia seeds out. Surely they will love this superfood as much as I do!

Ugh not really. They just looked at me as if I was sprinkling invisible food onto the ground. What are you, crazy? We want real food, they seem to be saying to me.

Okay, then how about my favourite snack - dried dates?

Yay, think we've got a winner here!

After these visitors filled themselves up, they flew away amicably as if they had no recollection of their previous tiff!

(They also showed me their appreciation by coming in to the apartment and leaving some poop on my carpet as I found out later on....)

Little did I know that I'd later run into this couple again days later...

This time, it was another nail-biting story which will have you at the edge of your seat. Ok, not really. But I can't wait to share about it in my next post because this post is getting a little bit too long and I'd like to talk about the delicious crème caramel now.

But here is a preview:

Who's going to win that piece of bread and who is going home hungry? Oh, the suspense!

Hint: Think David and Goliath!

Anyways, so I made this coffee crème caramel because:

1. I love eating it and it's been years since I last made it.

2. I was recently given a bag of freshly ground coffee which I have no use of (being a Nespresso person). So, why not cook with it? (You might be seeing a lot of caffeinated recipes coming up!)

3. I wanted to try steaming crème caramels (instead of baking them) because I know steaming is faster (well, you save the time pre-heating the oven + an extra 10 minutes cooking time!)

The result is a silky smooth crème caramel with a slightly bitter caramel sauce! Perfecto!

I couldn't wait until it chills in the fridge and ate them while they're still slightly warm and velvety soft! So addictive and delicious! Despite it was already late in the afternoon and the smallest amount of caffeine keeps me up all night, I 'uncontrollably' gobbled down more servings than I really should in one go.

Yes, totally worth it!

I hope you'll give this recipe a go. Chances are, you have all the ingredients right now in your kitchen.

And best of all, you don't even need an oven for this! 

Coffee Crème Caramel
Inspired by Cooking with Dog
Makes 4

You will need 4 pudding moulds/ramekins.

• Unsalted Butter (to rub the sides of your ramekins) 
• 4 tbsp Caster sugar
• 1 tbsp Water
• 1½~2 tbsp Hot water
• 2 Eggs
• 200ml Milk
• 50ml strong espresso coffee
• 3 tbsp Caster sugar

1. Place water in a heavy saucepan. Add 4 tbsp sugar, pouring into the centre of the water so it doesn't touch the edges. Cook over a medium heat for around 5-7 minutes. Do not stir. The caramel will slowly colour from blonde to brunette, to a dark, rich colour. Take off the heat immediately and add the 1-2 tbsp of hot water into the caramel (I added the water using a long ladle to prevent being burned by the sizzling hot caramel! Be careful here as it's extremely hot and bubbly!)

Pour into each of the 4 ramekins/pudding moulds.

2. Whisk eggs gently in a large bowl until mixture is slightly frothy. (We don't want too much froth here.)

3. Put milk and coffee into a saucepan and add the 3tbsp of sugar and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir into egg mixture (do not over mix).

4. Pour this mixture through a sieve into a jug to pour into each of the 4 ramekins/moulds.

5. Cover the ramekins with aluminium foil. Place them in a large flat pan (I used a 29cm fry pan) with a piece of folded towel/cloth at the bottom (to prevent overheating the moulds). Fill half way up the sides of the ramekins with boiling water and cook for 18-20 minutes with the lid covering the pan. Cook on low heat (small boils - we don't want rapid boil as the custard will be overcooked and eggy!)

6. Check to see if the custard has set and then rest for ~15 mins before putting into the fridge to chill. Run a knife around the edges of the ramekins before turning out onto a dish.

Bible verse of the day...

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 

-Philippians 4:8

Have a blessed week ahead! :)