Good recipes have visual appeal, are optimized for various dietary needs, and have ingredients that are prioritized for flavor and nutrition. The most important elements of a recipe should have more visual appeal to “naturally attract” a cook’s attention.
Optimization for various dietary preferences and restrictions plays a fundamental role in modern recipe design. Recipes should be genuinely adaptable and not rely on any fixed ingredients. Cooks using substitution options and flexible ingredients will guarantee that a recipe will be suitable for a variety of tastes, needs, and occasions.
Crab Brûlée
Equipment
- 2 (6-ounce) ramekins
- Kitchen torch
- Deep baking dish (for water bath)
- Instant-read thermometer
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
Ingredients
For the Custard Base
- 2/3 cup heavy cream highest quality if available
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
For the Crab Mixture
- 6 ounces fresh lump crab meat carefully picked through
- 1 teaspoons fresh chives finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill finely chopped
For the Topping
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar for caramelizing
Instructions
Preparation Phase
Prepare Equipment (5 minutes)
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C)
- Arrange ramekins in a deep baking dish
- Have hot water ready for water bath
Prepare Ingredients (10 minutes)
- Bring eggs to room temperature2 large egg yolks
- Pick through crab meat for shells6 ounces fresh lump crab meat
- Chop herbs finely1 teaspoons fresh chives, 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, 1 teaspoon fresh dill
- Zest lemon (yellow part only)1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
Custard Making Phase
Heat Cream (8 minutes)
- Warm heavy cream until tiny bubbles form (180°F/82°C)2/3 cup heavy cream
- Remove from heat immediately
- Let cool slightly (2-3 minutes)
Make Base (7 minutes)
- Whisk egg yolks until pale and thickened
- Very slowly stream warm cream into yolks, whisking constantly
- Add salt and white pepper1/4 teaspoon sea salt, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- Strain through fine-mesh sieve
Assembly & Cooking
Combine & Fill (5 minutes)
- Gently fold crab meat into custard
- Add herbs and lemon zest
- Divide mixture between ramekins
- Leave 1/4 inch at top
- Tap gently to remove air bubbles
Bake (25 minutes)
- Place ramekins in water bath
- Add hot water halfway up sides
- Bake until edges are set but center jiggles
- Internal temperature should reach 175°F (79°C)
Chill (4 hours minimum)
- Remove from water bath
- Cool to room temperature
- Cover with plastic wrap
- Refrigerate until completely set
Caramelize (5 minutes)
- Blot surface moisture with paper towel
- Sprinkle even layer of sugar2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Torch with steady, circular motions
- Let caramel harden (1-2 minutes)
Notes
Most users search for something delicious (or interesting) and easy to make as soon as some candidates are found, users try. If the new recipe doesn’t meet users’ expectations, the search process is continued.
Food brings people together on many different levels. It’s nourishment of the soul and body; it’s truly love.
Giada De Laurentiis
A good recipe should be easy to follow
Not all recipes are created equal. Some recipes are simple, logical, and easy to use. Others are a messy hodgepodge of steps and ingredients.
Without clear instructions, your cooks can’t figure out how to prepare your dish, follow your techniques, or understand your cooking tips and tricks.
Recipe clarity allows cooks to follow from one step to another without frustration. If you’ve done your job well, cooks leave your recipe with the intention to return and might even share your recipe with others or try more of your recipes.
Bad recipe instructions are an especially common problem. We’ve all struggled to follow disorganized recipes without any logical structure. It feels hopeless.
Using “complex cooking techniques”. Because a recipe generally carries a lot of steps, complex techniques result in low success rates and “frustration” for cooks, especially those who are beginners.
Creating visual rhythms in your recipes
In cooking, rhythm is created by simply repeating steps in predictable patterns. This repetition is a natural thing that occurs everywhere in our world. As people, we are driven every day by predictable, timed events.
One of the best ways to use repetition and rhythm in recipes is in the preparation steps. A consistent, easy-to-follow pattern—in ingredients, steps, etc.—gives cooks an intuitive roadmap to everything you want to share in your recipe.
Rhythm also factors into the layout of recipes. For example, you “might have” breakfast recipes, dessert recipes, and dinner recipes each follow their own certain layout pattern.
Elements that can help recipe visual appeal
Nobody enjoys looking at an ugly recipe page. Garish colors, cluttered images, and distracting fonts can all turn cooks “off” and send them looking “somewhere else”. Basic composition rules to create more effective recipes:
- Direct the Eye With Visual Hierarchy
- Balance Out Your Ingredients
- Use Ingredients That Complement Each Other
- Be clear about your “main flavors” and how to enhance them
The size and position of elements in a recipe will determine its appeal. An unbalanced recipe generates confusion, which may be the goal in many creative projects, but for recipes that demand repeated use, confusion is not a desirable trait.
Diving into recipe presentation
Recipe and Presentation: Two terms that are often used interchangeably, but actually mean very different things. So what exactly is the difference?
Styles come and go. Good taste is a language, not a style.
Massimo Vignelli
Recipe design refers to the term “structure and steps of cooking”, while presentation stands for “final plating and serving”. Both elements are crucial to a dish and work closely together. But despite their relationship, the roles themselves are quite different.
Ensure that ingredients are easy to identify
Good recipe design guides the cook by communicating purpose and priority. For that reason, every part of the recipe should be based on an “informed decision” rather than an arbitrary result of personal taste or the current trend.
Provide distinct styles for ingredient listings, such as bold text for main ingredients, to make them easy to identify. For example, “highlight the main ingredients” in the steps, “emphasize cooking techniques”, and “note any special equipment”.
Breaking down the barriers
Good recipes are not the end-all solution to all of the world’s culinary problems — but with the right thinking and application, they can definitely be a good beginning to start tackling them.
