Spiced Orange Caramel Custard Recipes

ORANGE CRèME CARAMELS

Steps:

• Finely grate zest from oranges, then squeeze enough juice to measure 1 cup.
• Pour juice through a fine sieve into a 2-quart heavy saucepan, discarding pulp, and stir in 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but washing down any sugar crystals with a brush dipped in cold water and skimming froth as necessary, until syrup begins to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Continue to boil, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup is a deep golden caramel. Immediately divide caramel among ramekins, tilting if necessary to coat bottoms.
• Preheat oven to 325°F and line bottom of a small roasting pan with a folded kitchen towel.
• Bring milk and zest just to a simmer over moderate heat, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes.
• Whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a large bowl, then whisk in warm milk. Pour custard through fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on and discarding solids. Divide custard among ramekins and arrange ramekins in roasting pan.
• Carefully add enough hot water to pan to reach halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake in middle of oven until custard is just set (but still trembles slightly in center), 50 minutes to 1 hour. Run a thin knife around side of each ramekin to loosen, then transfer ramekins to a rack and cool. Chill, loosely covered, at least 2 hours.
• To unmold, invert plates over ramekins and invert custards onto plates.

SPICED ORANGE CARAMEL CUSTARD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place the ramekins in a deep oven-safe pan or dish. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla bean and scrapings, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, orange zest and ginger over medium heat. Cook until it comes to a simmer. Turn off heat and let it steep for 10 minutes.
• While the heavy cream is steeping, place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan with tall sides. Before turning on the heat, gently mix until the sugar turns the consistency of wet sand. Then cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat until the sugar starts to melt and turns deep amber. Turn off the heat and slowly whisk in the warm heavy cream mixture.
• In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and salt. Slowly stir in the warm caramel mixture. Strain this custard through a fine sieve and discard spices.
• Pour the custard into the ramekins and fill the baking pan with boiling water to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to let the water enter inside the ramekin. Cover the baking pan with Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil and place inside the oven.
• Bake for 60-75 minutes until the center of the custard is set but still jiggles slightly. Remove from oven and let the ramekins sit in the pan until cool enough to handle. Dry the bottoms of the ramekins and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve with whipped cream and chopped pistachios.

SPICED PEARS WITH ORANGES AND CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Using melon baller and starting from bottom, core each pear. Cut thin slice off bottom of each pear to make level.
• Stir sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil until syrup is deep amber color, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; whisk in butter, then 2 tablespoons water.
• Stand pears in caramel sauce in saucepan. Sprinkle cinnamon over. Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with ras-el-hanout. Cover and continue to cook until pears are tender, occasionally spooning caramel sauce over pears and shaking pan so pears don't stick, about 15 minutes. Arrange orange slices around pears; spoon caramel sauce over. Cover and simmer until orange slices soften, about 5 minutes.
• Place orange slices on plates. Stand pears atop orange slices. Spoon caramel sauce over and sprinkle with almonds. Serve warm or at room temperature.
• *A Moroccan spice blend available at some specialty foods stores and Middle Eastern markets, and by mail from The Spice House (312-274-0378; thespicehouse.com).

SPICED CARAMEL ORANGES

Steps:

• In a heavy saucepan melt the sugar over moderate heat, stirring with a fork, and cook the syrup, swirling the pan occasionally, until it is a golden caramel. Remove the pan from the heat, pour the water carefully down the side of the pan, and add the cinnamon and the allspice. Return the pan to the heat and simmer the syrup until the caramel is dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat, add the rum carefully, and simmer the syrup for 5 minutes. Arrange the orange slices in a large bowl, pour the syrup over them, and let the oranges macerate, covered and chilled, for at least 2 hours or overnight. Serve the oranges at room temperature.

VANILLA-ORANGE CUSTARD WITH CARAMEL

Steps:

• For Custard
• Using vegetable peeler, cut peel (orange part only) in wide strips from oranges. Combine milk, half and half and sugar in saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into milk mixture; add bean. Bring to simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add peel. Remove from heat. Cover and steep 30 minutes.
• Strain mixture into medium bowl; cool to lukewarm. Whisk eggs and yolks in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk milk mixture into eggs. Chill until cold.
• For Caramel
• Mix 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water and juice in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until syrup turns deep amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 10 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons water (mixture will bubble). Stir over low heat until hard bits dissolve. Immediately pour into 6-cup soufflé dish; swirl to coat bottom and halfway up sides. Cool.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk custard; pour into caramel-coated dish. Place in large baking pan. Fill pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of dish. Cover pan completely with foil, sealing at edges. Bake until center 3 inches of custard moves only slightly when dish is shaken, about 1 hour. Remove from oven; let stand covered 10 minutes. Remove from water; chill overnight.
• Combine berries and 1/4 cup sugar in bowl. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Run knife around sides of dish to loosen custard. Place platter atop dish. Invert custard onto platter. Remove dish; allow caramel to spill out onto platter. Garnish with some berries. Serve, passing berry mixture separately.