Today, I am going to make some dairy desserts! I have been craving something sweet lately, and I figured why not document my process and share it with you all.
First things first, I needed to figure out what I was even going to make. I spent a good hour browsing online, looking at all kinds of recipes. There’s so much choice, right? From traditional to modern, healthy to indulgent. Honey cake, chocolate desserts, rugelach, coffee cakes… My head was spinning! I finally decided on making a lemon crème brûlée, because I’ve always wanted to try making it, and a classic apple pie, because who doesn’t love a good apple pie?
Making the Lemon Crème Brûlée
This one seemed a bit daunting at first, but it is not bad at all. The lemon custard can be tricky to master, so I made sure to follow the recipe closely.
- I started by whisking together some eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, and sugar in a bowl. Making sure everything was evenly combined. Seemed simple enough.
- Then, in a saucepan, I heated up some milk until it was just about to boil.
- Next, the tricky part: I had to slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture while constantly whisking. I was so scared of scrambling the eggs, but I went slow and it turned out fine.
- After that, I added in the lemon zest and juice. Gave it a good stir.
- Finally, I poured the mixture into ramekins and baked them in a water bath. That was a new experience for me, using a water bath, but it’s just pouring hot water into the baking dish, around the ramekins. Easy peasy.
They baked for about 40 minutes, and then I had to let them cool and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. The waiting was the hardest part! Once they were chilled, I sprinkled some sugar on top and used a kitchen torch to caramelize it. That was fun! The crème brûlée turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. It was creamy, tangy, and had that perfect crackly top.
Baking the Apple Pie
Now, onto the apple pie. I’ve made apple pie before, so I was feeling pretty confident about this one.
- I started by making the pie crust. I just combined some flour, salt, butter, and a bit of ice water in a bowl. Mixed it all together until it formed a dough.
- I rolled out the dough, placed it in the pie dish, and set it aside.
- For the filling, I peeled and sliced a bunch of apples. Tossed them with some sugar, cinnamon, and a little bit of flour. Pretty standard stuff.
- I poured the apple mixture into the pie crust.
- Then, I made a crumble topping with some more flour, butter, and brown sugar. Sprinkled that on top of the apples.
The pie baked for about 50 minutes, until the crust was golden brown and the filling was bubbly. The smell was amazing! I let it cool for a bit before cutting into it. It was delicious! The apples were tender, the crust was flaky, and the crumble topping added a nice crunch.
All in all, it was a successful day of baking. Both desserts turned out great, and I had a lot of fun making them. I hope my little baking adventure has inspired some of you to try making your own dairy desserts. It’s really not as hard as it looks. Trust me, if I can do it, so can you! Happy baking, everyone!
