BISCUIT CRÈME BRÛLÉE
Serves 6
If the Caramel Apple didn’t convince you, this one should. There’s no doubt about it, Chris Jones was one of the most influential creators in the kitchen at Moto. This kooky little Biscuit Crème Brûlée is another of his inventions.
How do we take two items as simple as a crème brûlée and a biscuit and reinvent the whole thing? You puree the biscuits and use them, along with a little black truffle oil, to flavor a crème brûlée. Then you serve it alongside a bacon scone. It’s like breakfast for dessert, only the twist is that it’s a savory course. It’s a lot of fun, very honest cooking with simple, real ingredients. Chris was always trying to capture the flavors that came from using the best ingredients possible. When you taste this course you’ll understand that it is his special talent.
Note: To make vanilla sugar, place a vanilla bean pod into a container of granulated sugar for about two weeks. The most economical way to do this is to use the pod after scraping out the seeds for another use.
BISCUIT CRUMBLE:
128 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping the dough
3 grams baking powder
1 gram baking soda
2 grams salt
10 grams unsalted butter, chilled
10 grams shortening, chilled
125 grams buttermilk, chilled
BISCUIT CRÈME BRÛLÉE:
250 grams heavy cream
100 grams Biscuit Crumble
3 grams black truffle oil
60 grams (about 3 large) egg yolks
70 grams vanilla sugar
5 grams salt
BACON SCONES:
115 grams all-purpose flour
3 grams baking powder
1 gram salt
2 grams ground black pepper
20 grams cold unsalted butter, cubed
35 grams whole milk
60 grams large eggs
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled, divided
BLACK TRUFFLE OIL POWDER:
50 grams tapioca maltodextrin (see Sources, here)
50 grams black truffle oil
0.5 gram salt
TO FINISH:
30 grams vanilla sugar
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Butane torch
BISCUIT CRUMBLE:
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Use your fingertips to rub the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it looks like it’s full of crumbs. Work quickly to ensure the fats don’t melt. Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir with a spatula just until the dough comes together. It will be very sticky. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface, dust the top with flour, and gently fold the dough over on itself 5 or 6 times, giving it a quarter turn after each fold, and dusting with flour as needed. Use your hands to gently press the dough into a 1-inch-thick round. Use a 3-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits. After cutting the biscuits, you can press the dough scraps back together once more to get extra biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared sheet pan, leaving 2 inches of space between each. Bake until the biscuits are tall and lightly golden on top, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, but leave it on.
Let the biscuits cool slightly, then crumble them up. Return the Biscuit Crumble to the sheet pan and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the crumbs are dry and golden. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
BISCUIT CRÈME BRÛLÉE:
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Fill a kettle with water and set it to boil.
Put the cream, 100 grams of the cooled Biscuit Crumble, and truffle oil in a blender and puree on high for 1 minute. Pour the biscuit mixture into a medium saucepot set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
Combine the egg yolks and vanilla sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until they are well blended and the mixture just starts to lighten in color. Add the hot cream a little at a time, whisking continually. Once the egg mixture has warmed up, you can start adding the rest of the cream more rapidly.
Strain the crème brûlée base into a pitcher and then pour it into six 4-ounce ramekins. Put the ramekins into a large roasting pan. You can put a kitchen towel in the bottom of the pan, underneath the ramekins, if you think they will slide around. Once the water in the kettle has boiled, pour enough boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake in the hot water bath, until the crème brûlée has set but is still trembling in the center, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Transfer the ramekins to the refrigerator and chill, uncovered, for at least 4 hours so they can firm up.
BACON SCONES:
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper and whisk to blend. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put the milk and eggs in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened, then add two-thirds of the crumbled bacon and mix just enough to distribute the bacon.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Portion out six 20-gram scones and shape them into 2-inch rounds. Sprinkle with the remaining bacon. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
BLACK TRUFFLE OIL POWDER:
Put the tapioca maltodextrin in a food processor, turn the machine on, and slowly drizzle in the black truffle oil. Keep processing until all the fat has been absorbed. Add the salt and process briefly. Transfer the Black Truffle Oil Powder to an airtight container until ready to plate.
TO FINISH:
Remove the Crème Brûlée ramekins from the refrigerator. Sprinkle 5 grams of sugar on top of each and use a butane torch to melt and caramelize the sugar until it hardens. Put 1 Crème Brûlée in the center of a plate. Place a Bacon Scone beside it. Sprinkle 3 grams of Black Truffle Oil Powder on top of the scone. Repeat with the 5 remaining plates. Serve immediately.
