In Part 1 of DJ Foodie’s guest post you learned all about making nut crusts, creating caramel flavor, and emulsions. In Part 2 he teaches you about working with gelatin, making low carb chocolate ganache, and you finally get the Salted Brown Butter & Pecan Pie recipe!
And now for Part 2…
Gelatin
Gelatin might be some of the weirdest stuff on earth, right up there with Aerogel and non-newtonian fluids (i.e. cornstarch slurry). In simple terms, it’s what gives Jell-O its shape and jiggle. It’s usually bought in powdered form, but can also be bought in little sheets that feel like plastic. Dissolve these powders or sheets into a warm liquid and then let it chill. It will firm up the entirety of the liquid and become a jiggling gelatinous mass of bouncy wonkiness.
I first learned about using powdered gelatin back in culinary school, somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. I learned how to apply it to meats and fishes; an interesting branch of cookery known as “charcuterie“. Gelatin was used to firm things up, give shapes to meats and sauces that have no shape, suspending ingredients in “space”, etc.
Gelatin was fun, but … old school and I never really used it in modern kitchens (of the early 90’s). I think it’s seeing a bit of a revival.
A little while back, I was trying to think of induction friendly dessert recipes and thought Panna Cotta would do the trick. Panna Cotta is little more than sweetened cream, held into a molded shape with gelatin. That day I made all sort of other desserts, but the Panna Cotta was the clear winner. This got me to thinking about gelatin and all its applications. It can really be applied to anything with water in it: sweet OR savory! A little gives you a little structure and jiggle and a lot will give you something firm and solid! It is odorless and tasteless. So, it’s little more than a gel, which would work in a glass of water, a bowl of ginger infused chicken broth and freshly suspended cilantro leaves, as well as strawberry juice and cocoa powder mixed with cream and almond milk.
So, what is it? Where does it come from? You really probably don’t want to know … (short answer: animal skins, bones and connective tissues … bleh).
We’re going to use the gelatin to firm up a brown butter custard emulsion that we’re about to make! This is done by “blooming” the gelatin in cold liquid, while heating the rest. Blooming means we’re going to sprinkle the unflavored gelatin powder evenly over the surface of (just about any) cold liquid. This allows the granules to “plump” in an even fashion, without clumping. It won’t work properly if the liquid is warm.
In this case, we’re going to make a custard base with egg yolks, almond milk and cream. We’re then going to briskly whisk the warm brown butter solution into the eggs, which will once again suspend the tiny fat globules within the water … an emulsion. We’ll whisk this new brown butter custard into the blooming gelatin and pour the whole thing into our pre-baked crust!
Time to chill out!
