For me, watching the Food Network is like keeping a dictionary near by. I’m the kind of person who loves picking up the Big Book and randomly turning to a page to learn a new word, reconnect with an old one, or discover I have been using a favourite one incorrectly.  The Food Network is the same way for me. There are few things I can manage to watch wholeheartedly, but it’s an easy switch-to station, and I often find myself learning a thing or two. And it’s hands down my favourite channel to watch when at the gym. Gluttony is my favourite motivator.

Years of watching made me interested in ingredients that were often difficult to find or unavailable in my part of Canada. It seemed like I listen to hosts talk for ages about truffles before I even got a taste of truffle oil. Or arugula. Remember when THAT was a new thing? Anyway, I think the first time I heard about crème fraiche was on a Jamie Oliver series, and then quickly it became a staple on American shows and magazines. Only since moving to Vancouver have I seen it in grocery stores.  But I’ve not been super enticed to pay the pretty penny. Yet, it still pops up a lot in recipes, recipes that I want to try. From mains to desserts, and as a substitute for whipping cream, sour cream, yogurt and mayo. If only just to know what it tasted like, my DIY adventure began.

Buttermilk, cream, a Mason Jar and a little time is all you need. Mix and wait. That’s it. Not much of a blog post, huh? No, I agree. But given that you now can save yourself a few dollars, I thought it was a recipe worth sharing. Less tangy than sour cream or yogurt and sufficiently rich given its ingredients. Yes, a worthy substitute for all those mentioned above. So, experiment. Sweeten it up with icing sugar and vanilla and use in place of whipped cream on a pie. Toss with some pasta. Make a chip dip. Search for how Jamie uses it.

I’m sure the waiting time could be adequately filled with Food Network — sorry if all you end up with is Food Network Challenge or Cupcake Wars.

Crème Fraiche

2 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons buttermilk

Pour ingredients into a clean Mason jar and stir. Place only circle top on jar. Let sit in a warm spot of your kitchen for 12 to 24 hours until thickened. Place in fridge (where it will thicken up a little more) and use within one week.

I chose friend.

As the start of my day, sliced over ice cream, or mashed into muffins, few fruits rival the toothsome give of a banana’s starchy-sweet flesh for me.

And for that reason, it makes an excellent ingredient for a pie—especially, ahem, a Cream pie.  Nestled between layers of crust and cream, banana slices retain their shape yet can be easily cut with a knife.  Cream pies also tend to be a favourite of mine because they require little, if any, baking.  I ate many cream pies growing up that were nothing more than instant vanilla pudding poured into a store-bought crust.  Slice some bananas and reach for the Reddi-Whip, and you’ve got your classic no-bake banana cream pie.  I’ve not let that kind of ease go completely, but with the task of bringing dessert to a friend’s and wanting that dessert to be a banana cream pie, I looked for something slightly more arduous.

Knowing that my hosts were chocolate fans, I narrowed my search to finding a chocolate-banana cream pie.  The one I found was outstanding.

Many no-bake pies are made with crumb or pastry crusts that have been quickly baked and then cooled before the cream filling is added.  This was truly no-bake in that it was simply melted butter and chocolate added to chocolate crumbs and then cooled until firm.  The chocolate became the magic binder that only added to the decadence of the pie.  Layers of banana and a vanilla pastry cream are to be expected, but atop a layer of chocolate ganache?  Sinful.  For nostalgia’s sake, I bought a can of “Real Whipped Cream” to accompany the topping of sliced bananas.

While perhaps sacrilege to some, for those of us in the room that were slightly intoxicated and singing 80s rock tunes with PVR karaoke, the canned cream was more than fine.  I provided backing to Livin’ on a Prayer while slicing the pie and then joined the silence during Paradise City as we all became enthralled with my pie’s creamy goodness.  So much so we threw caution to the wind, went for seconds (which finished off the pie), and declared Love in an Elevator one of the greatest songs of all time.

While the light of day tends to change your opinion on some things… there is still no question for me that this pie is top notch.

Black-Bottom Banana Cream Pie

The recipe came from Bon Appétit.  A vanilla pastry cream recipe is provided, however I made the one I learned in my recent baking course.  It’s so good you will want to make extra just to eat out of a bowl with a spoon.

Next time around, I likely will put all the ganache on the bottom instead of marbling it.  I made the pie one day ahead of time.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

50 g sugar

20 g unsalted butter

300 g whole milk

60 g whipping cream

30 g cornstarch

1 whole egg

1 g salt

5 g vanilla

Combine butter, cream, milk, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

In another bowl, whisk cornstarch, egg, and salt so that all the cornstarch dissolves.

Slowly whisk (to temper) the boiling cream mixture into the cornstarch mixture.

Return to the heat, bring to a boil again and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pastry cream needs to be cooled before using.  To prevent a skin, sprinkle sugar on the top and then tightly cover with plastic wrap.

This makes enough for one pie.

Like any pumpkin dessert, I find it hard to resist a crème brulee when confronted with one.  The pleasure of cracking the sugar crust is legendary, but my enjoyment tends to end at that.  Shards of sugar always end up in my back molars or pushed up against my front teeth, my wayward tongue more of a hindrance than a help when trying to pry the melting shards free.  Crème caramel is an obvious solution, but that damn caramel can be so tricky and I can be easily turned off by wobbly cream.

Looking for a dinner party recipe that could be adjusted for three, I made what essentially is a sugarless crème brulee.  Pots de crème.  Chocolate, yes, but that’s just a formality of flavour. 

Eggs + sugar + cream.  All there.

And what else?

Whipped cream.

I simply cut this Epicurious recipe in half.  Didn’t do the espresso as I’m not big on mocha.  Added a lightly sweetened, lightly vanilla’d whipped cream.

I could tell you that you need to use a dark chocolate with x% of cocoa solids from such and such a brand, but why stress?  Sometimes you’re in the bulk foods aisle and the easiest thing to grab is dark chocolate wafers or chips.  Of course a better chocolate will yield something better.  Do so if you like.  But, unless you’re baking for Pierre Hermé, I’m sure your guests or friends or lover (or yourself) won’t be offended if you use the chips.

Although it *would* be nice if at the end of a rainbow there was a pot of gold, I’d be just as happy finding a pot de crème.