Today marked the opening of Columbus's first Crate & Barrel store. Yea! So I braved the crowds (fortunately it was a Thursday, and cloudy, and cold, so the crowds weren't too bad) and headed over to Easton. I have never been to a Crate & Barrel store before and I was very excited. It was fun. It didn't have as many kitchen things as I thought it would, but it is in a shopping center with Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table, so it's really okay. I purchased these ramekins, since I didn't have any 6 oz ramekins, and most recipes call for them. Also, I wanted to try the Lemon Custard Cakes that were in last month's copy of Fine Cooking.
Look at that little lemon custard cake. Doesn't he look proud? He is doing a very good job at looking like he was the best custard cake out of the oven, even though he was the runner up. If you look at the second picture, below, you can see the King of the custard cakes, one of the most beautiful and proudly-risen, souffle-like items to ever emerge from my oven.
He's not the one out in front, he's the one in the upper left-hand corner. Notice how is top is lying beside him? See? (Click to enlarge) Your mother was right: HASTE MAKES WASTE. I was so excited to take a picture of custard cake #1 before he fell in (if he would, I have never made custard cakes before, so I didn't know) that I dropped him on the counter and he was ruined. (They do fall, by the way, but not a cave-in like a souffle, they just settle back into their cups.)
So how were the Lemon Custard Cakes? Well, it's hard to say, since I have never eaten one before and didn't know what to expect. I will have to re-review them when they have chilled, but 1/2 hour out of the oven they are okay - I might have overcooked them a bit because they were mostly cake, and very little custard. I find that the lemon zest in the recipe REALLY interferes with the texture, and I would recommend that anyone trying this recipe leave it out.
The recipe and instructions are so long that I really don't feel right reprinting it here, since I didn't modify it in any way. (Also, they have very specific copyright laws on their website) But here is a link to their website, which they encourage people to give out instead of reprinting their recipes. This recipe, however, could not be located on their website at this time.
Here is a link to Martha's Recipe, which is very similar but I haven't tested.
