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| Sweet Spot Archives |
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Share the Sweetness! Summer is filled with barbeques, get-togethers, and picnics, and these joyous occasions offer a great opportunity for potlucks. But if you’re tired of bringing and eating the same food items, potlucks can be boring and dreary. This summer, perk things up and try some new ideas for potluck dessert recipes from people just like you! C&H Sugar invites you to share your favorite, tried and true potluck dessert recipes with fellow dessert lovers in the July Sweet Spot newsletter. Have an irresistible pudding recipe to share or can’t wait to show off your own twist on brownies? Recipes can range from tiramisu to sheet cakes, but submitted recipes should yield at least six servings and should be easy to transport and serve. This is a great way to try something different and ensure that you’re dish will be a hit! Just review our recipe submission policy, fill out our recipe information form and mail your recipe to us today! 2004 SugArt Competition Calling all K-5th grade artists who want to try something new! Entry forms for the annual C&H SugArt Competition are available. Enter this sweet contest and your SugArt sculpture could win you and your school a generous prize! SugArt is a great opportunity to sugar-coat a rainy day at home or create a fun activity for Girl Scout or Cub Scout troops. Teachers, SugArt is also is a creative tool to inspire learning. For example, studying the California missions? Your students can build model missions with sugar cubes. C&H Sugar Cubes are not only building blocks for sweet treats — they can be used as building blocks for imaginative art projects. Last year’s First Prize winner Rachel Leonard, 8, of Foothill Elementary in Saratoga, Calif., created a vibrant green crocodile using C&H sugar cubes, green dye, glue and cardboard and was awarded a $1,000 savings bond for herself and $500 for her school’s art program. Another winner, Elizabeth Cardenas, 8, of Hillcrest Elementary in Rodeo, Calif., built a poignant model of New York’s Twin Towers and won a $500 savings bond plus $250 for her school. SugArtists, use your imaginations and have a sweet time! |
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Sweet Spot Archives Fall 2003 Summer 2003 Spring 2003 Winter 2003 Fall 2002 Summer 2002 Spring 2002 Winter 2002 Holiday 2001 |
Sugar, eggs, cream: Whisk these humble ingredients together, add heat, and something irresistibly delicious happens.
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Custard Sauce with Berries |
Homemade custards and their cousins are so much more delicious than supermarket-shelf puddings, with so many more variations, that it’s worth mastering the easy techniques for making them. As they say, the proof is in the pudding!
Custards on the Stove
Despite all their different names, there really are only two types of custard: stirred on a stovetop (often in a double boiler) and baked in the oven, usually surrounded by a hot-water bath.
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| Pretty as a Picture Custards are delicious but visually often less than thrilling. Here’s how to transform them into a beautiful presentation.
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Stirred custards may be thick or relatively thin, but they never get as thick as baked custards. Delicious as sauces over sponge cake or fresh fruit, stirred custards can also be used in making pastries or trifle. (See our serving suggestion above: a custard sauce spooned over berries.)
Our basic Custard Sauce uses whole eggs and whole milk and includes a little cornstarch for thickening. Vary its flavor by adding a teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract or some crushed fresh ginger (be sure to strain the sauce before cooling and serving).
Crème anglaise is a richer stirred custard that uses half and half or cream and egg yolks. Our version has the fresh bite of crystallized ginger, but the recipe is just as delicious without it.
Finally, there’s Zabaglione (pronounced “sabayon”—which is the way the French spell an almost identical sauce). This thin Italian custard enhanced with sweet wine is an essential ingredient in tiramisu, the classic Italian dessert that’s assembled much like a trifle. But we also love zabaglione served more simply, with crisp biscotti or fresh berries.
Custards in the Oven
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Ultra Chocolate Cups |
Caramel custard, flan, crème caramel: all are variations on an upside-down theme. When the baked custard is inverted onto a serving plate, a golden caramel sauce is revealed at the top. The main difference among the recipes is their lightness or richness. Our Caramel Custard is relatively light in calories and texture because it’s made with whole milk only. Flan, by contrast, uses three kinds of milk, including rich, sweet condensed milk. Vanilla is the traditional flavoring, but it’s easy to make substitutions. Try crushing some coffee beans (don’t grind them—the flavor will be too strong), steep for a few minutes in the custard, then strain.
Don’t even think about turning a soufflé upside down! Light and airy outside, creamy inside, soufflés (from the French verb
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| Crème Brulée with Glassine Tuiles | |
For sheer excitement, crème brulée is the crème de la crème--decadently rich and divinely dramatic. Our basic Crème Brulée has a thin, crackly glaze on top, the result of sugar crystals meeting intense heat—from your broiler or from a handy kitchen torch designed expressly for this purpose. An interesting variation, Crème Brulée with Glassine Tuiles, substitutes crisp “tuile” (too-eel) cookies—literally “tiles”—for the glaze, and a stirred stovetop custard for the traditional baked version. A little rum or other liquor adds sophisticated flavor, but you can also substitute orange or almond extract. Bon appétit!
| Quick Tip: When making caramel or burnt-sugar toppings for flan, crème brulée, and similar desserts, be sure to use C&H Pure Cane Granulated Sugar. Beet sugar won’t caramelize properly! |
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Baker’s Profile: Chef Jean-Marc Gorce and Casimira Gorce  Husband-and-wife team Jean-Marc and Casimira Gorce brought the pride of France to San Francisco’s North Beach district when they opened XOX Truffles, Inc. in 1998. Selected in March 2001 as one of the top ten artisan chocolatiers by Chocolatier Magazine, XOX Truffles is renowned for their heavenly, French-style truffles. They have more than 20 different cream-based flavors, but the caramel truffle made with C&H Pure Cane Sugar and dusted in cocoa powder is their most popular and has received the most attention. Departure Magazine calls the caramel truffle “totally addictive,” and the Rosengarten Report says that it “rivals La Maison du Chocolate’s caramel ganache.” While traditional French truffles are not made with sugar, Jean-Marc broke the tradition with this local favorite when he created a unique recipe using C&H Sugar and cream to make the sought-after caramel flavor. He realizes that all kinds of sugar are available from bulk warehouse retailers and local grocery stores, yet trained chef Jean-Marc only trusts time-tested, quality-assured C&H Sugar when creating the celebrated caramel truffle. Casimira explains that some people are hesitant to try this non-traditional truffle. “Every time customers come to the store they are surprised that it is not chewy, but that it actually melts in your mouth.” The secret? Casimira says, “I think it’s because of the C&H Sugar.” Her husband agrees, explaining that cane sugar has a better finish and consistency than beet sugar. Jean-Marc has observed that C&H Pure Cane Sugar caramelizes better than beet sugar when creating the caramel that Chocolatier Magazine has said, “quickly melts into a rich buttery softness in your mouth.” |