Many of you may be familiar with how easy creme brulee and other custards are to make with sous vide, but did you know that you can use your Anova Precision Cooker to make other kinds of traditionally baked desserts, as well? We whipped up four brand new recipes for you these last couple of weeks, and they are all delectable, flourless, and easily made Keto/sugar-free with the substitutions suggestions provided. Are you ready to sweeten up your life a little more with sous vide desserts?
"Life is short. Eat dessert first." ~ Jacques Torres
Short and Sweet
Most people I know enjoy a dessert every now and then. I know that I personally like to have a sweet on occasion, but am usually overwhelmed by both the size and the overly-high level of sweetness found in traditional dessert servings. These two factors are generally the reasons that my dining partners and I tend to share desserts when ordering out. They are also two factors that I took into serious consideration while writing the following recipes.
First of all, these sous vide desserts are each only mildly sweet. The sweetener - whether you use actual sugar or a low-glycemic sugar substitute - can be appreciated as a component within a harmonious whole and not overbearing. They are made in little jars, already pre-portioned to allow you to feel indulgent without going overboard. And the recipes are so easy and ingredients so wholesome, you will feel as at ease enjoying any of the following sous vide desserts for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or as dessert at an intimate dinner party.
Before You Begin
A handful of points that may not be completely intuitive need to be made about cooking in jars:
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Start out with room temperature jars and room temperature ingredients. Drastic changes in ambient temperatures can compromise the integrity of the jar, i.e., cause it to break! To avoid this, always start with room temperature jars, and allow warm jars to cool for a few minutes after removal from the bath before putting them in the refrigerator or ice bath should you choose to "shock" them.
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Close the lids to "fingertip tightness" where this applies, or where screw-top jars are used. Fingertip tightness, demonstrated in the video below, allows the air pressure to be released from the jars while they're cooking. This prevents in-bath shattering AND leaks of ingredients into the water.
What Is Fingertip Tightening from
Anova Culinary on
Vimeo.
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It is safe and okay for your jars to either a) be fully submerged, and b) float or hover in the bath. Gravity will pull the ingredients below the water's surface and cooking will still be even.
Floating Jars from
Anova Culinary on
Vimeo.
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Use tongs to place these in the bath and remove them; 185ºF/85ºC is pretty hot, and we don't want you to get burned, no matter how minor.
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Jars with plastic lids will not work. The plastic lids will expand in the hot water and the ingredients will be compromised. We normally use Mason or Ball brand canning jars with two-part lids, but a single-part screw-top lid will work tightened to fingertip tightness, and we have also had success with the more traditional glass-lid-plus-rubber-seal type jars and hinged-lid with rubber seal jars. Fingertip tightness does not apply to those kinds of jars.
