Weekend Adventures in Pastry

It had been so long since I'd made something besides cookies that I decided to make dinner and dessert over the weekend. But, since this is a pastry blog, the dinner didn't make the cut.
Custards are one of my favorite things to make in the kitchen so I made creme caramel.

The difference between creme caramel custard and creme brulee custard is that the creme caramel contains egg whites so that it can stand on it's own when it's unmolded. However, I happen to like the texture of creme brulee and the caramel sauce on the creme caramel and, since I'm not in culinary school anymore, I'm allowed to break the rules so I didn't include the egg whites in this recipe. The finished product still stood on it's own and was incredibly creamy. While making the custard, after I separated the yolks from the whites, I removed the membrane that surrounds the yolks. It can get pretty messy but it ensures that the texture will be smooth throughout the custard.


I had about 1 cup of egg whites left over from the custard so I made these meringue cookies. I added chopped pistachios and vanilla extract.