Absurdly, stupidly basic pastry & baking questions

[PetarG]

So I made some macarons and had yolks leftover and thought to make creme brulee. I used Sally's recipe but the creme turned out like this - curdled in the top half and good in the bottom half. I made some mistakes, like not putting a cloth on the bottom to insulate the ceramic bowl, but I wanted to ask yall:

• should the dish be shallower (mine is 4-5 cm deep)?
• Pour hot water higher (I used ~ 2 cm deep water in the pan the porcelain bowls were in)?
• Lower temperature (recipe calls for 160 C)? As long as the eggs set I guess ...

Gotta say, it is interesting the upper part curdled, while the lower part was fine.

 

[JeanneCake]

The lower part was insulated by the water while the upper part was not protected from the heat in the oven. I would use a more shallow container, use the cloth in the bottom of the water bath if you are baking more than one ramekin (so they don't slide when you remove them from the oven) and a little lower oven temp. 

[haresfur]

How do I cut brownies?

 

I shelved my efforts to get my mom's recipe working where I live now and have made a few batches of the Washington Post's Ultimate Brownies. When I cut them, I end up with a knife full of glue and broken crust on top, and can't get decent squares. I tried increasing the flour a tiny bit and giggling with the temperature and time to no avail. Any hints?

Edited March 16 by haresfur
link added (log)

[JeanneCake]

2 minutes ago, haresfur said:

How do I cut brownies?

 

I shelved my efforts to get my mom's recipe working where I live now and have made a few batches of the Washington Post's Ultimate Brownies. When I cut them, I end up with a knife full of glue and broken crust on top, and can't get decent squares. I tried increasing the flour a tiny bit and giggling with the temperature and time to no avail. Any hints?

 

Use a plastic knife!

 

Seriously; if I have to cut a pan of freshly baked brownies (baked that morning, for example), we get neater cuts using a plastic knife (like you would get for take out/take away food).  I still use our rolling wheel to mark the top but we use the plastic knife and a ruler.  (If I chill the brownies overnight I don't have to use the plastic knife, the rolling wheel or a chef's knife is fine.)

[Fernwood]

3 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

Use a plastic knife!

 

This is indeed the secret!