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Creamy Custardy Desserts

$40
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About

In this course we'll cover simplified and streamlined techniques for making classic desserts like panna cotta, mousse, and semifreddo so that they can be enjoyed whenever the mood strikes. You'll learn how these desserts achieve their smooth, creamy textures, and what to watch out for when you’re working with eggs, whipped cream, or gelatin. And don’t count these classics out as old-timers—we’ve added bold flavors and methods to modernize the classic, creamy custard.

What You'll Learn

  • 01. Welcome and Learning Objectives
    Welcome and Learning Objectives
  • 02. How Creamy Custardy Desserts Work
    How Creamy Custardy Desserts Work
  • 03. Technique Videos
    Technique Videos
  • 04. Recipe Tutorial: Caramelized White Chocolate Mousse
    Introduction
    What You'll Need
    Printable Recipe
    Common Mistakes
    Cooking Along with the Test Kitchen
    Discussion
  • 05. Recipe Tutorial: Chocolate Semifreddo with Cherry Sauce and Quick Candied Almonds
    Introduction
    What You'll Need
    Printable Recipe
    Common Mistakes
    Cooking Along with the Test Kitchen
    Discussion
  • 06. Recipe Tutorial: Buttermilk Thai-Basil Panna Cotta with Peppery Strawberries
    Introduction
    What You'll Need
    Printable Recipe
    Common Mistakes
    Cooking Along with the Test Kitchen
    Discussion

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  • Baking & Desserts

Classic Crème Brûlée

Most brûlées suffer from a trio of problems: The temperature is tepid, not cold; the custard is leaden, not ethereal; and the flavors are tired. A proper brûlée should have a crackly bittersweet sugar crust over a chilly custard of balanced egginess, creaminess, and sweetness; the perfect balance of temperature, texture, and taste. With a lot of testing, we discovered the keys to the perfect–and surprisingly easy–classic crème brûlée recipe: lots of yolks for richness, turbinado sugar for a crunchy crust, an instant-read thermometer for judging the custard’s doneness (with instructions for how to adapt cook time based on the shape and size of your ramekins), and a final chill for the best texture. In addition to all the steps to our recipe, you will learn how to avoid common crème brûlée mistakes like an undercooked custard or curdled yolks.

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  • Vegetarian

Strata with Spinach and Gruyère

Strata–basically a savory bread pudding–is too often soggy and laden with excessive custard and ingredients, rendering a simple casserole an overindulgence in both preparation and consumption. We felt that the perfect strata for breakfast or brunch should contain complementary fillings and flavorings, and just enough richness to satisfy. The solution was to start with the right bread–a thin-crusted supermarket loaf of French or Italian bread beat out sturdier artisan loaves. These softer breads (sold in the bakery department at most supermarkets) soaked up the custard evenly, and were more pleasant to eat when served. With the added step of staling or toasting the bread, we drove off more moisture, and ensured the bread stayed intact. (Note that if your bread is already stale, you can skip this toasting step.) For the savory spinach and shallot filling, we started by squeezing thawed, frozen spinach to remove much of its liquid, then sautéed the vegetables to continue driving off moisture and building deeper flavor. The addition of white wine, reduced down in a skillet to concentrate its jammy flavor and rid it of any boozy bite, added a welcome brightness to an otherwise heavy dish. After layering in the components and weighing the dish down to compact the disparate ingredients into a more cohesive dish, the strata needed to be refrigerated for at least 8 hours and up to overnight. The next day, after a short 20-minute stint on the counter, all the work left to do was bake the strata until the top was lightly golden brown.

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  • Italian

Pasta Classics

Ever wondered which pasta shapes go with which sauces? After all, there are scores of pasta shapes, and even more sauces. From pesto to cream sauces to tomato-based sauces, the combinations are endless. But not all pasta shapes work with all sauces. Discover how to pair the classic shapes with traditional sauces, and how to highlight the best of both the pasta and the sauce. Learn how to make a bolognese sauce, pesto, and a classic tomato sauce. We will show you how best to cook pasta and when you know pasta is properly cooked. See which canned tomatoes are best for sauce and then take all this information into the kitchen to make Baked Manicotti, Pasta with Pesto Alla Trapanese, and Fettuccine with Bolognese Sauce.

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