by Rebekah W
Coffee tea, otherwise known as Yuenyeung, is a staple in many HK cafes (caa4 caan1 teng1 | 茶餐廳). It is a beverage comprising of equal amounts of coffee and black tea then mixed with either condensed or evaporated milk. In this recipe, we’re going to turn these flavours into a silky smooth crème caramel, a perfect dessert to end the night with.
Video Tutorial
Below is the video tutorial for step by step guidance
About the Recipe
The trick to making the perfect amber-coloured caramel is to melt the sugar in a little bit of water without stirring it.
Once you put that metal spoon in to stir the sugar, it will cause the sugar to re-crystallise ruining your syrup. If your sugar is lumped together in one place just lift the pot up and swirl it around. This way, you can keep your temperature consistent. You may also notice that sometimes your crème caramel comes out with bubbles there could be two reasons for this:
1. Overwhisked the mixture when combining eggs and milk
To prevent this, whisk the mixture lightly as your combining it and pass the mixture through a sieve to break up the bubbles.
2. Over baking the mixture
If you leave the custard too long or use a heat that is too high, this can cause the eggs to scramble. Make sure that you cook your crème caramel in a water bath and that the water is at the same level as the custard in the ramekin. The water bath creates a moist environment in the oven and helps regulate the temperature.
Also, don’t worry if the custard comes out a little jiggly, it should be coming out jiggly as the residual heat will continue to cook it as it cools.
Are you looking for another traditional Cantonese recipe? Try our Lo Bak Gou (Turnip cake) recipe! I promise you won’t be disappointed! 😋
Check out other recipes from Rebekah on YouTube and Instagram:
Hong Kong Coffee Tea Crème Caramel
Ingredients
Coffee Caramel
- 40 g Raw Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Instant Coffee
- 30 ml Water
Custard
- 125 ml Whole Milk
- 50 g Evaporated Milk
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 40 g Raw Sugar
- 4 tea bags English Breakfast Tea
- 1 tsp Instant Coffee
Instructions
Caramel
- Whisk the instant coffee with water and pour into a pot
- Add into a sugar, turn the heat to high and let the mixture come to a boil
- Let it continue to boil until the liquid turns sticky into a syrup – you can test if it's done by scraping the pot with a plastic spatula and if the caramel is forming a clean line, it's ready to pour into a ramekins
- When the syrup is ready, pour them into 7cm diameter ramekins and set it aside while you work on the custard
Custard
- In a pot, add in the whole milk, evaporated milk and sugar and stir evenly, bring the mixture to a simmer
- When mixture is at a simmer, add in the instant coffee and tea bags and cover with lid.
- Set aside and let mixture steep for 10-15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, beat egg and egg yolk until well combined, making sure there are no egg white strands visible.
- Pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture while continuously whisking.
- Whisk until mixture is evenly combined then strain the mixture through a sieve
- Pour the mixture into ramekins, only filling to 3/4 full
- Place ramekin into hot water bath, making sure water reaches up to 3/4 of the ramekin
- Bake at 150C for 40 minutes
- After 40 minutes, the top should look set but might still be quite jiggly, let rest to room temp then place in fridge and it will continue to further set