Gregoire Michaud (www.gregoiremichaud.com) works from the heart, having written four books of recipes, and his online activity is followed by professionals in five continents. All this without forgetting his role as head of pastries at the Bread Elements in Hong Kong. With the record he has, it is needless to say that Gregoire Michaud is a trendsetter in his understanding of patisserie in Asia and elsewhere. However, the challenge (discover the other crème caramel challengers Miguel Sierra [view the recipe], Ryosuke Sugamata, Joseph Baker in so good.. magazine #10) that brings him to these pages drives him to create one of the most simple and basic classics of pastry. His personal way of approaching the Crème Caramel is by investigating its characteristic structure, achieved thanks to the fat of the egg. His ally is pectin to take the product to another territory, as he explains, as well as combining such different flavors like cassis and Tahitian vanilla.

Crème de la Crème Caramel !

The classic crème caramel is a delight, but despite its firm appearance, its texture does not allow much flexibility when it comes to play with shape. It is usually baked in a mold or in a tray and then cut. I certainly tried to freeze a regular crème caramel in order to obtain other shapes, but the amount of water was just too much and it formed crystals of ice within the crème, making it split and not nice at all.

I had to use another recipe that would combine more fat as well as a thickening agent that would bind and keep together the aqueous matter and the fatty molecules. This is where pectin came into the game, in a recipe that is simply cooked, but not baked.

To my surprise it worked great and the texture was awesome, especially combined with such a high quality vanilla. Then I simply added a good layer of dark caramel jelly and placed it on a fruity, moist and delicious cassis biscuit. This way of shaping a crème caramel, whatever flavor it may be, is a great and versatile way to create desserts and pastries !

crème tahitienne

• 420 ml cream, 35% fat
• 130 ml fresh milk (full fat)
• 55 g  white sugar
• 3 g  pectin X58
• 1 u Alain Abel Tahitian vanilla bean
• 110 g egg yolks

Warm the cream and the milk to 50°C with the vanilla bean cut lengthwise. Mix the sugar and pectin and add to the warm dairy mixture, boil once. Add the yolk and cook to 82°C. Fill the half sphere molds and freeze.

caramel jelly

• 60 g sugar
• 300 ml water
• 11 g  gelatin leaves

Cook the sugar into a very dark caramel. Soak the gelatin in part of the water. Add the warmed water to the hot caramel. Boil once. Add the softened gelatin and melt thoroughly.

cassis biscuit

• 400 g cassis purée
• 220 g butter, melted
• 200 g  egg yolks
• 400 g  egg white
• 220 g  white sugar
• 120 g  flour T45
• 4 g  xantham gum

Slightly warm the cassis purée to 35°C and mix with the melted butter. Add the egg yolks and mix into a smooth batter. Mix the xanthan gum and the flour and add it to the fruit mixture, mix well. Whip the egg white and the sugar to medium peaks. Fold the egg white into the fruit mixture. Spread the mixture into a 1.5-cm-thick layer and bake at 190°C for about 14 minutes. Allow cooling and cut discs the same diameter as the crème Tahitienne.

balsamic & berries semi-pris

• 100 g raspberry purée
• 65 g strawberry purée
• 20 g  cassis purée
• 15 ml  dark balsamic vinegar
• 26 g  white sugar
• 9 g  cornstarch
• 4 g  gelatin leaves
• 18 ml  water

Warm all the purées together to 85°C. Soften the gelatin leaves in the 18 ml of water. Mix the sugar and cornstarch and add to the hot fruit mixture. Cook it for a few minutes so as to cook the cornstarch. Add the gelatin leaves with the water and melt well. Pour on a plastic sheet and spread it to about 3 mm in thickness. Freeze the tray, once frozen, cut the right size discs.

Assembly

Once the caramel jelly is at the right consistency, dip the frozen crème dome twice, shake the excess jelly and place it on top of the cassis biscuit; allow defrosting for half an hour.
Cut a ring the same size as the cassis biscuit out of the balsamic semi-pris and place it on the plate – place the biscuit and the dome in center of the semi-pris. Decorate with fresh purple lucky sorrel and serve.