Creme Brulee paired with some French Fizz #FoodnFlix #FrenchWinophiles

What is the holiday season without a little bubbly??  Lifeless and flat.....and we don't want that now, do we?

You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on Dom Perignon to enjoy a little French Fizz during your celebrations.  France has tons of wonderful, sparkling wines that are delightful and reasonably priced. 

That is what we are celebrating today at The French Winophiles.  Jason and Jill of L'Occasion invited us to finish off  2016 with "Bubbles from France".  Go take a look at their preview post and you will see that the possibilities are endless.

I normally serve sparkling wines with appetizers or first courses when entertaining but for this month's post I decided to change things up and serve this bottle of Sparkling Demi-Sec from D'Orfeuilles.  This winery is located in the Loire Valley and specializes in Chenin Blancs and Sparkling Wines.  They are certified organic, certified biodynamic and sustainable.  

I chose the Demi-Sec instead of the Brut that I would normally drink because I wanted a slightly sweeter wine to pair with the Creme Brulee that I was serving up in homage to our FoodnFlix selection this month.  This was an ideal pairing.  The Vouvray Demi-Sec was lightly sweet and the fizz played off the smooth creamy sweetness of the Creme Brulee.

Now let's travel from the Loire Valley over to Austria and the areas surrounding it and learn a little about Krampus who is a half goat/half demon folklore figure that punishes those children who don't believe in the magic of Christmas.  It makes me shiver just typing those words....Leave it to the area that produced the Grimm brothers to have this type of folklore figure during the Christmas season.

I had never heard of Krampus until Heather of All Roads Lead to the Kitchen chose it as our movie for this month's FoodnFlix Club.  My son was home on leave from the Navy when I ordered up this movie to watch.  He looked at me incredulously and said "you are watching Krampus?"  I, being oblivious, replied "of course, it is the Christmas movie for this month".  The movie opens to a hugely dysfunctional family having Christmas dinner and treating each other deplorably.  As the mom goes into the kitchen to get the grand finale, Creme Brulee, one of the cousins grabs a letter that was written to Santa by the young boy in the family, and proceeds to read it in front of the whole family,   This lovely family then proceeds to ridicule and tease the young boy until he runs from the table, humiliated as his mother walks out proudly carrying her Creme Brulee.

That was the start of a movie that got progressively worse.  I do not like horror films, not even horror films that are supposed to be funny.  I don't like them during Halloween when horror movies should be watched and I really, really do not like them at Christmas.  

I do, however, like Creme Brulee, so I was inspired to make some for a dinner party I was hosting. Luckily, at my dinner, everyone was kind towards each other and we made Merry as we all should during this special time of the year.  

This Creme Brulee is from a recipe by Ina Garten.  It is easy and can be made ahead of time.  Bring it out of the refrigerator at the beginning of your dinner and when it is time for dessert it is ready to be sprinkled with sugar and bruleed for serving. Your guests will be impressed by this rich, creamy but light dessert.  

I didn't save any for Krampus but there is a serving awaiting St. Nick when he comes to visit~~

Thank you Heather for hosting this month.  I am looking forward to seeing what the others were inspired to make after watching this film when you post the roundup at the end of the month.

Creme Brulee

slightly adapted from Ina Garten

1 egg

4 egg yolks

1/2 c. sugar plus more for sprinkling

3 c. heavy cream

1 t. vanilla paste

1 T. orange liqueur

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg, egg yolks and 1/2 c. sugar until just combined. Place the cream into a small saucepan over med high heat and cook until steaming but not boiling. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cream to the egg mixture. Stir in the vanilla and liqueur.

Place 6 empty ramekins into a flat bottomed roaster and add boiling water to the roaster to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  Remove the ramekins and make sure they are completely dry inside.  Place the roaster in a preheated 300* oven.  Divide the custard between the 6 ramekins, pull the rack of the oven containing the roaster out and carefully place the ramekins in the boiling water.  Push in the rack and bake for 35-40 minutes until the custards are set.  Remove the custards from the water bath and cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate until firm.

When ready to serve, sprinkle each ramekin with approx, 1 T. of sugar and heat with a kitchen torch until evenly caramelized.  Allow to sit for a minute until the caramel hardens before serving.  Print Recipe

This is the last French Winophiles session of the year. Please join us today at 11 EST to enjoy an hour discussing and learning about sparkling wines from France. Don't forget to stop by and see what the other Winophiles are sharing today.

• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator: French Fizz #Winophiles: In the Pink with Fresh Seafood Crepes, Bisque 
• Martin of Enofylz Wine Blog: Patrick Bottex “La Cueille” Bugey Cerdon Rosé #Winophiles 
• LM from binNotes: Celebrating Grower Champagne 
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Crisps, Caviar, and Crémant de Limoux 
• Jeff from FoodWineClick!: Master the Saber with French Fizz 
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm: Creme Brulee paired with some French Fizz 
• Michelle from Rockin Red Blog: How About Some French Fizz this Holiday Season
•  Jill at L’occasion: Fascinating: Crémant d’Alsace