Caramel Cremeux
Caramel Crémeux
Crémeux is one of my favourite creams to use for layer cakes or even on plated desserts and this caramel crémeux is no exception!
The texture is almost like a slightly lighter pastry cream, with rich caramel notes and a perfectly stable texture.
As it is stabilised with gelatin, it is great for piping as it holds it’s shape particularly well.
If you’re looking for a chocolate crémeux then you have to try this recipe!
Ingredients
Method
To start, we need to bloom the gelatin. Add the gelatin powder into a small bowl and pour the cold water over the top. Stir it together and let it sit in the fridge until you need it. If you have a different strength of gelatin powder I have a conversion table at the bottom of the recipe so you can adjust the amount of gelatin you need,
Note - if you are using gelatin sheets, soak 2 sheets (any strength) in ice water instead.
Into a medium saucepan, add the cream and the beans from a fresh vanilla pod (this is optional). Place it on a medium heat, stirring occasionally just until it is steaming. Take a note - we are using a cream here that is around 35-40% fat (that would be a UK Whipping Cream/US Heavy Cream). This level of fat content is important to acheive the correct texture.
Add the egg yolks and 10g of the caster/white sugar into a bowl. Whisk to combine for 30 seconds then set to one side.
Next, we need to make a dry caramel. They key to a dry caramel is adding the sugar in small increments.
Add a thin layer of sugar to the bottom of a small saucepan - roughly 20/30g. Shake the pan slightly to disperse it and flatten it across the bottom of the pan.
Place it on a medium low heat and do not stir it.
Once the outer edges of the caramel have started to melt and have turned a light golden colour, use a rubber spatula to gently press the hot caramel from the edges, towards the centre, in order to melt the sugar in the middle. The hot melted caramel should very quickly melt the undissolved sugar. Pour the next increment of sugar into the centre.
Use the spatula again, to gently press the hot caramel from the edges, towards the centre, in order to melt the sugar in the middle.
Once dissolved, keep repeating this process. The sugar will begin to darken the further you get through the process and at this point, the 'fresh' sugar can be stirred in very quickly as it will melt immediately. Keep adding sugar until you have used all 130g and a deep golden colour.
Slowly pour in the hot cream, whisking constantly. Cook it for 1 minute, then remove it from the heat.
Slowly pour the hot caramel cream over the egg yolks whisking constantly.
Pour the entire mixture back into the pan.
Whisk the mixture constantly until it reaches 84C/183F on a digital thermometer (not an infrared one).
Immediately pour it through a sieve, into a tall jug.
Weigh 40g of the bloomed gelatin from the fridge (it will be almost all the bloomed gelatin) and add this to the caramel. If using sheets, squeeze the excess water out, and add these in.
Blend the crémeux till smooth. At this point, you can also add a pinch of flakey sea salt just to balance the sweetness out slightly or make a salted caramel version (give it a taste and see if you want to add any)
Cover the surface with cling film and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours (ideally overnight). The recipe will make about 600ml of cremeux (unwhipped).
Once chilled, add it to a stand mixer, and whisk for 2-3 minutes until it holds a medium peak.
The mixture will now be the perfect consistency to pipe.
Use this chart to adjust the required amount of gelatin powder based on the bloom strength you have. For example, this recipe calls for 250 bloom. If you only have 200 bloom, then you need to use 6g x 1.27 = 7.6g (lower it to 7.5g!). Then you need to multiply the amount of gelatin powder x 6 for the required amount of water. 7.5 x 6 = 45g. So for 200 bloom gelatin powder, you would need 7.5g + 45g cold water for this recipe.
Note - this chart only applies to gelatin powder. Just use 2 sheets of leaf gelatin regardless of strength for this recipe - all sheet gelatin is adjusted to have the same gelling strength.
Ingredients
Directions
To start, we need to bloom the gelatin. Add the gelatin powder into a small bowl and pour the cold water over the top. Stir it together and let it sit in the fridge until you need it. If you have a different strength of gelatin powder I have a conversion table at the bottom of the recipe so you can adjust the amount of gelatin you need,
Note - if you are using gelatin sheets, soak 2 sheets (any strength) in ice water instead.
Into a medium saucepan, add the cream and the beans from a fresh vanilla pod (this is optional). Place it on a medium heat, stirring occasionally just until it is steaming. Take a note - we are using a cream here that is around 35-40% fat (that would be a UK Whipping Cream/US Heavy Cream). This level of fat content is important to acheive the correct texture.
Add the egg yolks and 10g of the caster/white sugar into a bowl. Whisk to combine for 30 seconds then set to one side.
Next, we need to make a dry caramel. They key to a dry caramel is adding the sugar in small increments.
Add a thin layer of sugar to the bottom of a small saucepan - roughly 20/30g. Shake the pan slightly to disperse it and flatten it across the bottom of the pan.
Place it on a medium low heat and do not stir it.
Once the outer edges of the caramel have started to melt and have turned a light golden colour, use a rubber spatula to gently press the hot caramel from the edges, towards the centre, in order to melt the sugar in the middle. The hot melted caramel should very quickly melt the undissolved sugar. Pour the next increment of sugar into the centre.
Use the spatula again, to gently press the hot caramel from the edges, towards the centre, in order to melt the sugar in the middle.
Once dissolved, keep repeating this process. The sugar will begin to darken the further you get through the process and at this point, the 'fresh' sugar can be stirred in very quickly as it will melt immediately. Keep adding sugar until you have used all 130g and a deep golden colour.
Slowly pour in the hot cream, whisking constantly. Cook it for 1 minute, then remove it from the heat.
Slowly pour the hot caramel cream over the egg yolks whisking constantly.
Pour the entire mixture back into the pan.
Whisk the mixture constantly until it reaches 84C/183F on a digital thermometer (not an infrared one).
Immediately pour it through a sieve, into a tall jug.
Weigh 40g of the bloomed gelatin from the fridge (it will be almost all the bloomed gelatin) and add this to the caramel. If using sheets, squeeze the excess water out, and add these in.
Blend the crémeux till smooth. At this point, you can also add a pinch of flakey sea salt just to balance the sweetness out slightly or make a salted caramel version (give it a taste and see if you want to add any)
Cover the surface with cling film and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours (ideally overnight). The recipe will make about 600ml of cremeux (unwhipped).
Once chilled, add it to a stand mixer, and whisk for 2-3 minutes until it holds a medium peak.
The mixture will now be the perfect consistency to pipe.
Use this chart to adjust the required amount of gelatin powder based on the bloom strength you have. For example, this recipe calls for 250 bloom. If you only have 200 bloom, then you need to use 6g x 1.27 = 7.6g (lower it to 7.5g!). Then you need to multiply the amount of gelatin powder x 6 for the required amount of water. 7.5 x 6 = 45g. So for 200 bloom gelatin powder, you would need 7.5g + 45g cold water for this recipe.
Note - this chart only applies to gelatin powder. Just use 2 sheets of leaf gelatin regardless of strength for this recipe - all sheet gelatin is adjusted to have the same gelling strength.
This sounds INCREDIBLE! Do you know if the gelatine could be replaced with agar to make this vegetarian?
No I’m afraid not
Sounds and looks fabulous and not scary at all! Cheers x
Enjoy!
Would agar agar work? 1/4 of the amount of the gelatin of course.
No
This looks amazing!!
What if you wanted to make a vanilla or a saffron cremeaux? So not including any caramel?
I have a vanilla cremeux recipe on the website you can try