A delicious apple crème brûlée combines the finest dessert in French cuisine with a fine, fruity note, which puts us in the autumn mood – appropriate for the start of the new season. Enjoyment guaranteed!
Crème Brûlée – it could hardly be more French. The dessert not only sounds noble, it also tastes just as tempting as it sounds. It tastes sweet and crunchy, loved for its caramel crust. Including a velvety creamy cream that literally melts in your mouth when you spoon it. To create the unmistakable caramel crust, the surface of the thickened cream is sprinkled with sugar after it has cooled and caramelized under the grill or the kitchen Bunsen burner. The result: an incomparable moment of pleasure when you can hear the cracking of the crust when you pierce it with a spoon. This is how French tradition tastes!
From France, of course, right? Not necessarily. The sweet creamy dessert is rumored to have made its way to France from Spain. A similar cream is known there under the name Crema Catalana and was already described in the medieval cookbooks Llibre de Sent Soví and Llibre del Coch.
However, the invention of the caramel layer, which is the dessert’s unique selling point, is believed to have originated in the UK and is credited to both Christchurch College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge. Hence the name “Burned Cream”.
Origin or not, nowadays the crème brûlée is mainly known in France. It was first mentioned here in 1691 in the cookbook “Cuisinier roial et bourgeois” by the French chef François Massialot. In the 1980s and 90s, the dessert cream then gained in reach thanks to chef Paul Bocuse, who made it world-famous.
The apple harvest in Germany begins in August and, depending on the variety, lasts until October. Around 2000 different varieties grow in this country alone. It is not for nothing that the apple is the most popular fruit among Germans: each of us eats an average of 17 kilograms of apples per year. The delicious fruit is not only healthy, but also versatile. Apples taste both sweet and savory – whether in casseroles or salads, classic in cakes or pancakes or processed as compote. Especially in autumn, they are used with preference in desserts, pastries or sweets. Perfect timing to conjure up a delicious apple crème brûlée from the classic crème brûlée.
Traditionally, the French dessert is made from cream, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla. In keeping with autumn, we are refining the classic with the finest, home-made apple compote. In this way we give the original a fine note reminiscent of golden autumn days with homemade apple pie.
The decisive thing with a crème brûlée is not the ingredients, but the right molds. They should be flat, small and fireproof, this is the only way for the cream to set evenly. A burner, salamander or the grill of the oven is suitable for caramelizing. It is important that the cream is heated as little as possible so that an even crust can form. By the way: Originally, this step was done with a red-hot poker or poker, the round iron plate of which was held in the fire by the stick. The Bunsen burner is definitely easier to handle.
For the apple compote:
