Bernie Blog: Saturday Blues

A Saturday with gloomy weather for sure. Raleigh and I had intended to make a dash out to the botanical garden for the orchid market but the 100% forecast of heavy rain made driving in the city rather unappealing. So instead of Panahar and Gardens, we went with hosting a little get together. This time involving creme brulee since that's what Paul wanted for his birthday and this would be part of his celebrations.

My favorite recipe for creme brulee at the moment is from the book "EGGS" by Michel Roux The original recipe is for pistachio creme brulee but I have adapted it to make vanilla creme brulee. I am partial to this recipe as it does not require cooking the custards in a water bath. Moving a baking pan full of hot boiling water in and out of the oven is one of my least favorite things to do. First step for creme brulee, gathering the ramekins:

Then it is super easy, scald some heavy cream with sugar:

Combine with whisked egg yolks, pinch of salt, sugar and vanilla and you are halfway done. For this batch I used vanilla extract but a split and scraped vanilla bean can also be added to the scalding milk for vanilla bean creme brulee. The vanilla bean does make a difference since the seeds change the texture of the custard.

I like to strain the custard mixture into a pitcher for easy pouring

bake at 250F for about 45 minutes. The custards are done when they quit jiggling

To round off the creme brulee I thought some blue macarons would be nice. I was hoping for a lighter shade of blue but looks like I was a little too generous with the blue gel paste. Will try a little less next time.

The batter turned a nice shade of turquoise after baking. The bright color was actually quite cheerful for such a gloomy day.

folding in almond meal and powdered sugar into tinted meringue

Batter is ready when it is slightly runny

I decided to make a mocha buttercream filling for the blue macarons. A nice "pick me up" flavor.

Very easy: espresso powder, cocoa powder, icing sugar and some butter

For this occasion, I chose the blue & white Wedgwood cups and saucers as my starting point. Since I only have a few pieces, I mix and match it with my other dessert sets.


L to R: Wedgwood Queensware, Vintage hand-painted Spode "Rosslyn", Mason's brown transferware "Vista"

cheerfulness in the afternoon! Blue rimmed Turkish plates from IKEA

With the table set, I was ready to go when guest arrived. A simple dessert of creme brulee, macarons, cofee and tea made extra special with the right setting!