No Soup for Dessert!
May 4, 2011 6:22 AM Subscribe
My attempt at making a diet chocolate creme recipe resulted in tasty chocolate soup. Where did I go wrong?
I'm not a big pudding/custard cooker. Someone knows what I did wrong!
1) The first step is to combine 3 egg yolks with 1/8 tsp. of cornstarch.
I don't have a mixer, so I used a whisk and mixed it until smooth. Also, thinking back, I may have added 1/4 tsp of cornstarch instead of 1/8.
2)Warm 1 cup of skim milk on low with 1 tsp. of cocoa powder until it it just about to boil.
I didn't want to do this on a low temp b/c I thought it would take hours. I tried to do it on med-high while stirring constantly to keep it from scalding.
3)Pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture and combine.
Again, I used my whisk. Didn't do a lot of work in this step, just made sure the consistency was uniform.
4)Pour entire mixture back into saucepan. Warm on low heat for 5 minutes until the mixture just thickens and covers back of wooden spoon. Stir constantly with wooden spoon. And take off heat immediately.
Again, I thought low heat was silly, so I used a medium heat. I stirred and cooked for 7 minutes on medium. I thought I saw a "slight" thickening. (How slight should I look for?) The back of the spoon mixture seemed to have a bit more body than at first.
5)Add sweetener and refrigerate for 3 hours.
I added 1 tablespoon of Splenda (to taste), poured it into a pyrex with a lid, and refrigerated overnight immediately (I didn't let it cool on the counter first).
This morning I have tasty chocolate soup. Not exactly what I was going for.
I will be trying this again tonight, and at lunch I'm going to go purchase a hand mixer. What else should I watch out for next time? This recipe comes from a diet book...sort of becoming trendy right now; it has to have been tested a million times!
I'm not a big pudding/custard cooker. Someone knows what I did wrong!
1) The first step is to combine 3 egg yolks with 1/8 tsp. of cornstarch.
I don't have a mixer, so I used a whisk and mixed it until smooth. Also, thinking back, I may have added 1/4 tsp of cornstarch instead of 1/8.
2)Warm 1 cup of skim milk on low with 1 tsp. of cocoa powder until it it just about to boil.
I didn't want to do this on a low temp b/c I thought it would take hours. I tried to do it on med-high while stirring constantly to keep it from scalding.
3)Pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture and combine.
Again, I used my whisk. Didn't do a lot of work in this step, just made sure the consistency was uniform.
4)Pour entire mixture back into saucepan. Warm on low heat for 5 minutes until the mixture just thickens and covers back of wooden spoon. Stir constantly with wooden spoon. And take off heat immediately.
Again, I thought low heat was silly, so I used a medium heat. I stirred and cooked for 7 minutes on medium. I thought I saw a "slight" thickening. (How slight should I look for?) The back of the spoon mixture seemed to have a bit more body than at first.
5)Add sweetener and refrigerate for 3 hours.
I added 1 tablespoon of Splenda (to taste), poured it into a pyrex with a lid, and refrigerated overnight immediately (I didn't let it cool on the counter first).
This morning I have tasty chocolate soup. Not exactly what I was going for.
I will be trying this again tonight, and at lunch I'm going to go purchase a hand mixer. What else should I watch out for next time? This recipe comes from a diet book...sort of becoming trendy right now; it has to have been tested a million times!
Best answer: My hunch is that you stopped when you saw only a "slight" thickening. The times I've made custard and pudding, it's more noticeable; there's a point at which you stop saying, "well, it sort of looks thicker...maybe...I think", and say, "oh, yeah, that's thicker." It's not super-thick consistency, but it is more noticeable.
Also, stick to the low heat. Low and slow helps custards set. But it won't take as long as you think.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:27 AM on May 4, 2011
Also, stick to the low heat. Low and slow helps custards set. But it won't take as long as you think.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:27 AM on May 4, 2011
Best answer: I agree with EmpressCallipygos. When something "coats the back of the spoon" you should be able to draw your finger through the coating and the line your finger left across the spoon will just stay there.
And in my experience, recipes for custards and puddings always dramatically underestimate how long things will take to thicken up. I don't know why.
posted by mskyle at 6:39 AM on May 4, 2011
And in my experience, recipes for custards and puddings always dramatically underestimate how long things will take to thicken up. I don't know why.
posted by mskyle at 6:39 AM on May 4, 2011
Best answer: I would also, for your second attempt, actually follow the recipe. It does often matter how quickly things heat up, especially when thickening or warming milk, so use the low heat. It won't take hours. It'll take a few more minutes, but you're much more likely to get the result you want.
posted by decathecting at 6:49 AM on May 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by decathecting at 6:49 AM on May 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
I would also, for your second attempt, actually follow the recipe. It does often matter how quickly things heat up, especially when thickening or warming milk, so use the low heat. It won't take hours. It'll take a few more minutes, but you're much more likely to get the result you want.
With baking, YES!
posted by TheBones at 6:52 AM on May 4, 2011
With baking, YES!
posted by TheBones at 6:52 AM on May 4, 2011
Best answer: My first thought on reading this is that 1/8tsp of corn starch wouldn't be enough to thicken anything - why are they even bothering to list it as an ingredient in such a small quantity? I would have thought more like 1 tsp for a cup of milk. But if that's what the recipe said, that's what it said.
And be careful of following TheBones' advice - yes, the yolks need to cook before the dish is finished, but if the milk is too hot when you add it to the egg, it will cook right then, and you'll get an egg-drop-soup thing going on. Usually the procedure is to carefully *not* have the milk cook the yolks, and then heat the whole mixture up afterwards. You can do this by cooler milk, or by stirring like crazy as you add it.
posted by aimedwander at 6:52 AM on May 4, 2011
And be careful of following TheBones' advice - yes, the yolks need to cook before the dish is finished, but if the milk is too hot when you add it to the egg, it will cook right then, and you'll get an egg-drop-soup thing going on. Usually the procedure is to carefully *not* have the milk cook the yolks, and then heat the whole mixture up afterwards. You can do this by cooler milk, or by stirring like crazy as you add it.
posted by aimedwander at 6:52 AM on May 4, 2011
Yeah, the corn starch doesn't make sense to me either. I believe the temperature required to thicken corn starch (no matter the amount) would curdle the eggs. So a recipe like this should use eggs OR cornstarch, but not both.
posted by jon1270 at 6:54 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by jon1270 at 6:54 AM on May 4, 2011
Best answer: I suspect that the tiny bit of corn starch is a "cheat" to help things set easier; it's just enough to help things along, but not so much to monkey with the recipe.
Also, yeah, see what happens if you follow the recipe more exactly. A friend of mine said that with most cooking you can improvise a bit, but baking and dessert making is "kind of like alchemy," in that you have to follow the recipe exactly -- because there is a chemical reason that things are in the proportions they're at and the temperature and timing they're at. Change one element too much and the chemical reaction you were supposed to get won't work.
(Pretty much the only variation on a baking recipe I've ever made have been swapping out the types of nuts or chips for a cookie recipe, and putting only half as much salt in cooke recipes -- a habit my mother instilled in me - but only because I know that neither the salt nor the type of nut affects the baking, but only the flavor.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:03 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Also, yeah, see what happens if you follow the recipe more exactly. A friend of mine said that with most cooking you can improvise a bit, but baking and dessert making is "kind of like alchemy," in that you have to follow the recipe exactly -- because there is a chemical reason that things are in the proportions they're at and the temperature and timing they're at. Change one element too much and the chemical reaction you were supposed to get won't work.
(Pretty much the only variation on a baking recipe I've ever made have been swapping out the types of nuts or chips for a cookie recipe, and putting only half as much salt in cooke recipes -- a habit my mother instilled in me - but only because I know that neither the salt nor the type of nut affects the baking, but only the flavor.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:03 AM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Never in my life have I had a custard thicken in five minutes. That's really the issue--you pulled it too soon. And everything should be fine at a slightly higher temperature as long as you temper the eggs--add a little milk at a time to the eggs so they have a chance to warm up before you dump all of it in and return it to the heat.
posted by Kimberly at 7:06 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by Kimberly at 7:06 AM on May 4, 2011
Best answer: The reason you cook it slowly is so that you don'd end up with extreme differential temperatures that result in lumps. Excessive whisking can break down your thickener, but usually not 'til after it's thickened. I wouldn't worry too much about low vs medium heat.
The McGee book, On Food And Cooking gives a gelation range for corn starch from 144°F to 180°F, and egg yolks coagulate at 160°F to 170°F. Get an instant read thermometer (every kitchen should have 5 or 6), calibrate it in ice water (the mechanical ones have a little hex nut on the back you can put a wrench on to twist the face), and re-heat your soup to 170°F. If it hasn't dramatically changed character at that point, go clear to 180°F and then let it cool.
Should be totally different.
posted by straw at 7:08 AM on May 4, 2011
The McGee book, On Food And Cooking gives a gelation range for corn starch from 144°F to 180°F, and egg yolks coagulate at 160°F to 170°F. Get an instant read thermometer (every kitchen should have 5 or 6), calibrate it in ice water (the mechanical ones have a little hex nut on the back you can put a wrench on to twist the face), and re-heat your soup to 170°F. If it hasn't dramatically changed character at that point, go clear to 180°F and then let it cool.
Should be totally different.
posted by straw at 7:08 AM on May 4, 2011
Best answer: Great advice up above (but do be careful that you don't pour scalding milk into the egg mixture, unless you want scrambled eggs).
If you keep going a bit more with the time (and use the temperatures the recipe calls for), you should be fine for your second attempt. Custard/puddings always, always surprise me. I think, while I'm stirring, "This is never going to thicken, this is never going to thicken," and then, all of a sudden, it's thick! You do have to be patient but I promise, it won't take hours.
posted by cooker girl at 7:09 AM on May 4, 2011
If you keep going a bit more with the time (and use the temperatures the recipe calls for), you should be fine for your second attempt. Custard/puddings always, always surprise me. I think, while I'm stirring, "This is never going to thicken, this is never going to thicken," and then, all of a sudden, it's thick! You do have to be patient but I promise, it won't take hours.
posted by cooker girl at 7:09 AM on May 4, 2011
Best answer: Honestly, even with your shortcuts, the recipe would probably have turned out fine if you'd let the mixture cook/thicken a bit longer.
When something "coats the back of the spoon" you should be able to draw your finger through the coating and the line your finger left across the spoon will just stay there.
This, exactly. I'm surprised your recipe didn't include that phrase, word for word.
posted by booknerd at 8:06 AM on May 4, 2011
When something "coats the back of the spoon" you should be able to draw your finger through the coating and the line your finger left across the spoon will just stay there.
This, exactly. I'm surprised your recipe didn't include that phrase, word for word.
posted by booknerd at 8:06 AM on May 4, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the help!
Tonight I will, 1) Use a low temperature to start with; 2) Cook it longer on the last step; 3) Be careful when I add the hot milk to the egg mixture.
Hopefully it will be tasty AND solid!
posted by Kronur at 8:19 AM on May 4, 2011
Tonight I will, 1) Use a low temperature to start with; 2) Cook it longer on the last step; 3) Be careful when I add the hot milk to the egg mixture.
Hopefully it will be tasty AND solid!
posted by Kronur at 8:19 AM on May 4, 2011
Just piping up to second straw. Alton Brown says that you want to heat a custard to between 172°F and 176°F to get optimal thickening power from the eggs. Get a thermometer and watch the temperature. That is the only way to be sure.
posted by I am the Walrus at 11:14 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by I am the Walrus at 11:14 AM on May 4, 2011
Also, you don't need a mixer to make custard! so if that is the only reason you are buying one, don't! Eggs begin coagulation (cooking) at 160F, so you definitely need to get above that temperature.
Not sure if this is mentioned in the recipe, but as a helpful hint: if you do get it to work right, before you put it in the fridge to cool/set, cover it with a piece of plastic wrap, but lay the plastic wrap right on top of the custard - this prevents a gross skin from forming.
good luck!
posted by firei at 1:04 PM on May 4, 2011
Not sure if this is mentioned in the recipe, but as a helpful hint: if you do get it to work right, before you put it in the fridge to cool/set, cover it with a piece of plastic wrap, but lay the plastic wrap right on top of the custard - this prevents a gross skin from forming.
good luck!
posted by firei at 1:04 PM on May 4, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by TheBones at 6:25 AM on May 4, 2011