Boozin’ It Up

I like dessert. And I like booze. And I really like boozy desserts. For the record, I also really like saying “boozy desserts,” but I suppose “drunken desserts” also has a ring to it. I don’t know about you, but for me, the holidays are made for boozing, and for dessert. Last year I gave you the ooey, gooey, alcohol infused chocolate Kahlua cake. This year, just in time for Thanksgiving and family boozin’ (wait, you don’t booze with your fam at Thanksgiving?) I present to you…

Spiced custard. Nuts. Rum. What more do you need, people!? The answer is nothing…or whipped cream. Either of those answers is correct.

I made this dessert as a substitute for pumpkin pie. Ok, now people hate me… but it’s true: I could care less about pumpkin pie. It has a funny texture, it tastes boring, and it’s just not that exciting. Our Thanksgiving table will have pecan pie for sure (the best of all pies, in my opinion), pumpkin loaf—a delicious pumpkin-cake and cream cheese filling roll of delight (see, we’ll still have a pumpkin item on show)—and now… deliciously boozy little custards. Hey, I put pumpkin pie spice in them…doesn’t that count?

I suppose you could call this dessert pots de crème, because technically, that’s what it is. Little pots of cream, or custard, baked in a water bath, and chilled prior to serving. But when a big family Thanksgiving rolls around and you’re feeding a crowd that consists of teenage boys that like to hunt and play sports (and dads that like to hunt and watch sports) pots de crème (aka poh duh KREHM) might not be the most popular choice at the dessert table. That’s why I will be serving Spiced Custard Cups with Drunken Pecan Sauce. Sure, that name doesn’t leave much to the imagination, but at least you know what you’re getting. And everyone likes to hear that there’s booze in their dessert…right?

Spiced Custard Cups with Drunken Pecan Sauce
Serves 6-8

For the Custard Cups:

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cinnamon stick
A generous pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
3 egg yolks
2 whole eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Combine both milks in a saucepan and gently heat until slightly frothy. Turn to low and add cinnamon stick, pie spice, and nutmeg--steep for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and continue steeping for about 10 minutes, until milk is lukewarm. Remove cinnamon stick. Whisk together the eggs and yolks then whisk this into the milk mixture. Pour mixture into ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish. Fill baking dish with water (be careful not to get water in ramekins) halfway up side of ramekin. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until solid but still slightly jiggly. Cool until set (overnight is best).

For the Pecan Rum Sauce:

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 cups toasted pecans (whole and pieces)

Combine water, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat. Remove cinnamon stick, and stir in rum. Add pecans. Cool and pour over cool custard cups. Chill overnight and serve with a dollop of whipped cream (if you're feelin' fancy).

Once Upon a Time

There was a weekend long ago (well, a few days ago) that was particularly depressing to my palate. Things were spiraling down, getting worse and worse as the weekend progressed. Just when I thought I was doomed to spend eternity in the depths of culinary-deprived hell, hunched in the corner eating cardboard slathered in fried oil and dipped in bright red processed ketchup, Sunday evening’s meal came along, enlivening my taste buds and reinvigorating my will to live…er, eat.

It all started Friday afternoon. It was a rainy, dark, dreary day, the kind that sends a shudder down the spines of even the bravest Seattlites. I spent the gloomy day dreaming of soups, stews, and other hearty, stick-to-your-bones dinners. Racing home in the rain, spices and herbs danced in my head. Upon my arrival home, however, the unthinkable happened…our dinner plans fell through! I tried to convince Evan to go out, but in the endless rain, my efforts were futile. The cupboards were bare. With no other choice, we gave in to a meal that would kick off the blandest of all weekend eatery: frozen fish sticks and cheetos.

Saturday I awoke to sunny skies and the possibilities of a new, delicious day. Unfortunately, it was like I was stuck in Groundhog’s Day, unable to break the awful curse of the cardboard diet. With dinner plans falling through yet again, we resigned ourselves to a fate even more awful than frozen fish sticks… Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, and fries… what had life come to? Would my taste buds ever again bring my lips to a pucker upon greeting sour and bitter flavors? Would I sing at the contrast of sweet and salty on my tongue? Would I ever again be swept up by the richness of umami in my mouth!?

As Sunday rolled around, I lingered sluggishly in bed, unable to face another flavorless day. And just then, when I thought that all hope was lost, when I was about to give in and forever succumb to lifelong dread, I remembered: it was the day of our first ever book club meeting! And I was preparing dinner! Just the motivation I needed to pull myself together and reignite my withering taste buds. The menu: Brown Butter and Beer Butternut squash soup with ricotta and parmesan cheese; caramelized fig and pecan salad with gorgonzola and shallot vinaigrette; and buttery buttermilk biscuits sprinkled with flavored sea salt made by Evan’s sister Teresa. And just in case the velvety soup, fluffy biscuits, and sweet savory salad weren’t enough to save me from a life of tasteless misery, the gals in shining armor came to the rescue with wine, V’s nutty asparagus and prosciutto appetizer, and the biggest hero of all, Chelsea’s dessert.

Artfully arranged on my bright, colorful dessert plates, Chelsea’s smooth caramel flan served with slices of juicy mango was exactly what I needed to shake away my weekend doldrums. With one bite, I was whisked away on a culinary adventure to an exotic land. A creamy custard dripping with caramel, tasting of Crème brûlée, paired with fresh, sweet mango…I was alive once more! The weekend, at last, was saved. As book club began, full of the promise of many flavorful dinners and lively discussions, I licked my plate clean, and quietly rejoiced in the awaking of my slumbering palate.

Chelsea's Classic Creme Caramel
Serves 4


1/2 cup plus 2 T. sugar
1/4 cup water
1 1/4 cups half and half
4 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Have four 6-oz ramekins or custard cups ready and a 10-inch square baking pan. Put kettle of water to boil for the water bath.

Heat 1/2 cup sugar and the water in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush if you see any sugar crystals. Boil, without stirring, swirling the pan toward the end to even out the color, until caramel is a dark amber color. Immediately pour caramel into the ramekins, tiling to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Let cool and harden at room temperature.

In the meantime, heat the half and half in a medium saucepan over medium heat until hot. Whisk together the egg yolks, the remaining 2 T. sugar, and the salt in a medium bowl. Slowly pour in the half and half into the bowl, whisking constantly. Pour the custard through a fine strainer set over a medium glass measure or bowl. Whisk in the vanilla.

Divide custard evenly among the ramekins. Place the ramekins in the baking pan, place it in the oven, and carefully pour enough boiling water into the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until custard is set around the edges but still slightly jiggly in center. Don’t overbake! The custards will settle further as they cool.

With tong, carefully transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, tightly covered, for at least 3 hours, until thoroughly chilled and set, or up to 1 day. To serve, run a table knife around the edges of the ramekins and invert onto serving plates.

Sgt. Clafoutis

Our hero has returned!

My dear friend (and Evan's past roommate), Mike, has returned to Seattle... from over a year on tour with the US Army in Iraq. We missed Mike like crazy during his time abroad, and have been waiting impatiently for him to come home. Leading up to Mike's return, we were informed that he had a few requests: fried chicken at Ezell's and a 12 egg omelet at Beth's Cafe... not to mention he had been reading Loves Food, Loves to Eat, and was expecting something delicious from my oven. Instead of going out on the town with the guys on Mike's first night back, I took off my heels, put on an apron, and hit the kitchen.

What does one make for a returning soldier, someone who was without homemade treats for so long, someone who hasn't hugged his mom or kissed a girl for a year, someone who's been living off of nothing but bland military rations and crude male humor since 2007? A clafoutis, of course!

Not only is clafoutis fun to say, it also represents all the things Mike has been living without...fruity, chocolaty, custardy, and feminine- a perfect welcome home treat! I had never actually made a clafoutis, and turned to my trusty Gourmet magazine for inspiration. Tweaking a Chocolate Raspberry Clafoutis recipe to make use of the bag of cherries on my counter, I got to work making a very 'girly' sounding dessert for a very manly man- chocolate cherry clafoutis.

Having never even tasted clafoutis before, I decided there was absolutely no way I was serving this new dessert to friends without first tasting it myself. I thought Mike wouldn't mind if I ate one little sliver of the custardy cake. On my first slice, I was pleasantly surprised by the creamy custard center, and in love with the crispy chocolaty edges. On my second slice, I savored the sweet, juicy cherries. On my fifth slice, I marveled at how the chocolate chunks on top melted into a perfect rich glaze. By my eighth slice, some of the chocolate topping had hardened, creating a not-to-sweet chocolaty crunch that contrasted amazingly with the silky smooth custard... Before I knew it, I had devoured half of Mike's welcome home clafoutis.

The next morning, after the boys had their big night out, the wait at Beth's Cafe was too long, and Ezell's was too far away. Lucky for Mike, he had (less than) half a clafoutis waiting for him, chocolaty and rich, gooey and fruity, the perfect dessert for a great friend. Next time, I'll try to make Mike a full clafoutis... but we'll see how far that gets me.

Chocolate Cherry Clafoutis

(Adapted from Gourmet Magazine)

2-3 cups pitted & halved dark cherries
1 T sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 t salt
1/2-3/4 cup coarsely chopped dark or bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 400°F
Butter a shallow baking dish or tart pan
Toss berries with granulated sugar and let stand 15 minutes.
Blend milk, butter, eggs, brown sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt in a blender until smooth.

Scatter berries (with juices) evenly in baking dish, then pour batter over top.
Bake on center rack until slightly puffed and firm to the touch, about 35 minutes.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chopped chocolate. Cool to warm, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature... with a friend... or by yourself.