Crème brûlée

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Crème brûlée

Crème brûlée (French for "burnt cream"; IPA: [ˌkɹɛm bɹuː ˈleɪ] in English, [kʁɛm bʁy le] in French) is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill or other intense heat source. It is usually served cold in individual ramekins. The custard base is normally flavoured with just vanilla, but it can be flavoured in a number of ways: with chocolate, a liqueur, fruit, etc.

It is first attested in France, in Massialot's cookbook, in 1691. The French name was used in the English translation of this book, but in the early 18th century, it was called "burnt cream" in English.^[1]

In Britain, it is associated with Trinity College, Cambridge, where the college arms were "impressed on top of the cream with a branding iron"^[2]. It was introduced to Trinity College in 1879,^[3] though some cookbooks claim a much older origin. ^[4]

Sometimes the hardened sugar on top will be given a Maillard reaction, or caramelization, by igniting a thin layer of liqueur sprinkled over the top.

In Catalonia (Spain), it is called crema catalana, and has a custard base flavoured with lemon and cinnamon.

1 See also
2 Bibliography
3 References
4 External links

[edit] See also

Crème caramel or flan, a custard topped with a soft caramel sauce
Portuguese-style egg tart, a custard tart possibly influenced by this dessert
Crema catalana - or "Catalan Cream," a similar dish.

[edit] Bibliography

Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food, ISBN 0192115790.
various, "Origin of Crème Brulée", Petits Propos Culinaires 31:61 (March 1989). According to [1], concludes that it is French in origin.

[edit] References

^ The Oxford English Dictionary has a 1723 quotation.
^ Davidson, s.v. crème brûlée
^ Florence White quoted in Davidson
^ Smith, Delia (1997). Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course. page 482: BBC. ISBN 0563362499.