Pushing Color; Jazzing up Creme Brulee; Dreaming about Crema Carmeled

Sweet Choices, (Note I changed the title of this painting); detail lower right corner.

In a few minutes, slices of lime will top off the Key Lime tarts and differentiate them from the Creme Brulee tarts.Lime green will give that area the spark it needs. And more highlights are needed on the nutmeg crust atop the Brulee, red oxide specks perhaps, to bring a red down into that area of grayed down color.

Odd that I should be painting pastries. I never buy them and bring them home. I never ask to see the dessert tray at a restaurant, (but that would make a good "choice" painting), UNLESS they have Crema Carmele. Few restaurants in the States do. Brulee is the norm on US menus. It's no where near as light and smooth in texture as Crema Carmele, which is on a par with the sorbet of the day price-wise at nearly all the European restaurants I've visited. The only place I've found Crema Carmele is at Morton's Steak House. Honey and I would run over there for a brandy and my favorite dessert late night. We'd indulge ourselves at the bar in the Cigar room. We had to take everything we wore to the cleaners the next day--but we didn't mind--the dessert was good, the brandy warmed our cockles the company was stimulating. Unfortunately they don't have it anymore; they switched to brulee like everybody else. How sad nothing is forever.

Did a little tweaking to My Front Walk as well. Lightened it up. I don't think it made much of a difference, but it did blend in the too centered sidewalk a bit and help the composition. I'll try a new drawing tomorrow angling the walk.

CARMEL CUSTARD (CREMA CARMELE) Recipe from The Settlement House Cookbook, copywrite 1965, Simon and Shuster with suggestions by me.

Melt 1/2 cup of granulated sugar (or brown sugar) in bottom of baking dish or loaf pan,(sprayed with cooking spray), till brown, tilting dish until evenly coated. Then add custard mixture (2 eggs, pinch salt,4 TBsp sugar, 2 cups hot milk. Beat eggs slightly,add salt and sugar and stir till sugar dissolves; pour milk gradually onto egg mixture stirring constantly. Sprinkle with nutmeg after pouring into caramel coated baking dish. Set in pan filled with 1" of water. Bake in oven at 325 degrees 30 to 45 minutes or until a knife blade comes out clean. Patience is needed here.

To serve: invert loaf pan into bowl. Custard will slip out and the caramel sauce will pool around it. (I always double the sugar in the caramel recipe. I like extra sauce). You could sprinkle the top of your caramel loaf with more nutmeg to break up the plain plane,which was the bottom, but is now the top. Some people like a dollop of gingered whipped cream on top.Crucial note: make the custard first and have it ready to pour on the nearly hardened caramel coating. The caramel is going to harden fast when it hits the cool loaf pan. You want to move fast to add that layer of custard to a nearly wet caramel layer--just like you do when you make a layered jello mold.

My boys loved this dessert; our dentist would have preferred I made sugarless jello on special occasions.


HAPPY SATURDAY PAINTING