Coffee Flavoured Caramel Custard.

Coffee Flavoured Caramel Custard ..... Truly Delicious ...... tried this flavour from the otherwise vanilla flavour which I usually make ..... I must say this was far beyond imagination ...... Yummy Yumz ....

How do we like to end meals? Some would say Ice Cream, some would cakes, some my relatives would say payasam for sure … some more would say any sweets and some more would say …. Say what ? Yes some would pause to think, coz they have so many favorite desserts that they have to think. But me, I have one favourite dessert of all from childhood till date ie. my favourite desert has always been “Caramel Custard”. 

We always like sweet treats after meals that are equal parts yummy and easy. In restaurants, you are always asked after lunch / dinner as to what dessert we would like to have. Once during my teens I had eaten this dessert at a well-known restaurant, but to my dismay I could never find this on the menu in most of the other places. Married and settled in Mumbai …. My search continued for this dessert, sometime I found it, but did not like the taste of it. But most of the time I never could find it to my utter dismay. Forget it, I said, I would make my own and eat to my heart’s content. Thus, started my pleasure of eating homemade caramel custard. My family loves this and I make it very often. Well after all I too would get to eat it. I prefer this dessert to Ice Cream or payasams, though I must say everybody at home like ice creams too. 

South Indians have a penchant for coffee. Somehow, I am not a coffee lover, I prefer Tea, though my friends and relatives say I make one of the best coffees. But then I simply love coffee flavoured Ice Cream especially from Baskin Robbins. I always make it a point of having the same flavour every time I go there. Today when I was about to prepare caramel custard, it just struck me, Why not make it coffee flavoured. I was somehow sure it would turn out great and yes I was absolutely right, the result was far more than my expectation. The recipe is very simple and easy to make. Just follow you heart and make any flavour of your desire. But yes just add plenty of love to it while making coz. Ie. the trade secret of a perfect caramel custard.

Ingredients for making Coffee Flavoured Caramel Custard : 4 eggs, 2 cups of fat-less milk + 150 ml Milk Cream with 25% fat or ½ litre full fat milk, 4 + 4 tblsp of sugar, 2 tsp of Instant coffee powder (I used Nescafe’).

Add in a vessel, 2 cups of fat-less milk + 150 ml of Milk Cream - 25% fat + 4 tblsp of sugar and bring to a boil. Add in 2 tsp of Instant coffee powder and mix well. Remove and let cool.

In a glass bowl, break in the 4 eggs and beat it well with an egg beater. I used electric beater Remove and add it to cooled coffee milk and mix well. 

For caramelizing : I have always prepared these in aluminium cake moulds. Add 4 tblsp of sugar + 1 tblsp of water in the mould and keep it on medium flame till the sugar melts and bubbles appear. The minute it starts caramelizing ie. it turns into golden brown remove from fire. Swirl the mould a bit so that the caramel spreads evenly towards 1/3” of the sides at the bottom. Let this cool. It hardly takes more than 5-10 minutes.

Pour the milk mixture to into the mould that has caramelized sugar by placing a sieve above it, so that the milk gets sieved into the mould. The mould should be only half or ¾ th filled. 

Pour water into the Idly Steamer and bring to a boil. Now gently keep the mould into the steamer without tilting it. Cover it with a fitting plate and keep a small weight on it to prevent the lid from having any gaps. Steam on low / minimum heat for 35-40 minutes. Remove and let cool completely before putting it in the refrigerator overnight to chill.

To Serve : Run a blunt knife gently all round the inner rim of the mould to separate the custard from the mould. Keep a fitting dish on top of the mould and overturn it so that the custard gets gently rolled over fully into the serving dish. See to it that the serving dish can fully accommodate the custard without spilling over. Cut into slices and serve. I make small one’s in muffins aluminium cups, so that it can be served as a whole.

** Note : Today I prepared using 2 cups of fat-less milk + 150 ml Milk Cream with 25% fat otherwise I use half litre of full fat milk. 

** Also remember to keep the flame absolutely minimum while steaming. The cooking should be done on very slow process.