Creme Brulee Cake

I really like creme brulee - that crunch browned sugar on top of a thick custard. It's yummy. A couple of days ago at work, Jenny brought a creme brulee cake she had made. I asked her for the recipe. It came from the same Chef in Training blog where the lemon cake came from that I made for Adria's birthday last year.  Maybe I should start looking at that blog more often. I googled several other recipes to see how they differed. It looks like it's just a "Texas sheet cake" with a vanilla custard on top. It turned out well, so I'm posting the recipe I made. Once again, I made changes to make is easier and to get rid of the shortening. Yes, I have shortening in the pantry, but I try to avoid using it. It's gross.

VANILLA TEXAS SHEET CAKE
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Spray a 15x10x1 inch sheet pat with cooking spray. Mix the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Then in a sauce pan melt the butter and water and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. (This is to get rid of some of the water.) Pour the butter into the flour and mix well. Stir in buttermilk. Add baking soda and mix (I think next time I will sift this in with the dry ingredients.) Add eggs 1 at a time and mix after each. Stir in the vanilla bean paste. Pour into the greased sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Cool completely - so it only feels slightly warm to the touch before adding the topping. Mix the topping while it cools.

CREME BRULEE TOPPING
1 large box (approx 6 oz) vanilla instant pudding
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
¼ cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Combine all the ingredients and mix until smooth and thickened. Place in the fridge while cake cools completely. When cake is cool, spread the topping evenly over the cake and put the cake in the fridge for at least 1 hour to make sure it is chilled all the way through.

SUGAR CRUST
½ cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

Put sugar into a food processor and pulse to make very fine sugar (OR just use 1/2 cup very fine sugar if you can find it at the store - I couldn't) Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the cake and Place under a preheated broiler until sugar bubbles and turns golden brown. Watch closely and rotate pan frequently. The middle of mine was done before the edges, so I had to hold the edges under the broiler. (This is when I REALLY REALLY want a kitchen blowtorch! It's on my birthday wish list!) Chill the cake for at least 2 hours- I chilled mine overnight- Serve cold.

The family liked it. So even though it's noon on a Saturday and I should be doing chores, we all had cake for lunch and I thought I better write it down before I forgot about it.

Swedish Rice Pudding - New and improved version?

Several weeks ago (Maybe months - my days all blur together) I wanted to make rice pudding, with some leftover rice and for whatever reason, I decided not use my mom's recipe. I think the problem was that I didn't have the 3 cups of rice her recipe needs and I wanted something with  less rice anyway. So I searched for a recipe and found one on Genius Kitchen. Genius Kitchen is one of our new favorite recipe websites. We have found several good recipes there. At Christmas time we made a gingerbread recipe we found there. I made this one with a few modifications. I'm hoping to remember what they were as I type it out. Adria told me it was MUCH better than the other rice pudding recipe I usually make. I think I'd have to agree with her. I like cinnamon- but the change to nutmeg and cardamom was really nice in this version.  I think I will go make this again and see what I ended up using (Yes I have left over rice. Again...)

4 eggs
3⁄4 cup sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
1⁄2 teaspoon cardamom
1 cup cooked rice (do not use minute rice)
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated Milk
1⁄2 cup low-fat milk

In a 2 quart bowl or dish, beat 4 eggs lightly, add 1 cup sugar and beat a little. Stir in nutmeg and cardamom.Add cooked rice and evaporated milk and low-fat milk. Stir. (You can sprinkle cinnamon on top - but I skipped it) Bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours or until the pudding's top moves a little in the center if you push it gently.

I made it. I think it is a little too much cardamom - so next time just use 1/4 teaspoon!