Firni Brûlée: Crazy experiments with Firni, part 2
Firni Brûlée is the second in a series of experiments I did with Firni this Ramadan. Have you checked out the first one, Firni Tart yet?
This one is a cross between Firni and Crème Brûlée. Firni, as we all know is a simple and the most delicious semolina pudding. Crème Brûlée literally means burnt cream. It is a slightly complicated dessert consisting of a creamy vanilla custard with a caramelized crunchy topping, made by burning sugar. I replaced the custard in Creme Brûlée with Firni basically or to put it the other way round, I topped Firni with a layer of burnt sugar. Sounds like a bootless errand? In my defense, a hobby a day keeps the doldrums away!
I must admit that for me, it was more about the visual and audio drama around the flame and the cracking sound of caramelized sugar respectively. (A short video should be up on my Instagram reels.) But if you have a sweet tooth, you’ll be in for a doubly decadent treat with this dual layered, dual textured dessert.
I started by preparing Kashmiri saffron flavoured Firni (zaafrani fireen) the usual way, except adding lesser sugar than I usually do. Then I let it set in the fridge for a few hours. Then topped it with sugar and used a blow torch to caramelize it until it was just burnt. The key is to caramelize the sugar when the dessert underneath is chilled. That way, the consistency and taste remain intact.
I have no words to explain the satisfaction in reaching the creamy Firni by cracking through the crisp layer of caramelized sugar.
I borrowed the kitchen blow torch from a close friend. However, you can achieve a decent layer of caramelized sugar under the oven broiler/gril as well. If you’re not looking for some fiery drama and action, that is.