Crème Brûlée

Crème brûlée

Serving Size:

4-6 servings

Time:

1 hour plus cooling

Difficulty:

Intermediate

Ingredients

2 cups of cream (half and half or light/heavy cream)
1 tsp of vanilla extract or 1 split vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
1/8 tsp salt (tiny pinch)

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream and vanilla bean over low heat until just hot. Be sure not to boil. If using extract, do not add yet. Let sit for a few minutes and then discard the vanilla bean (scrape seeds into mixture if you have not done so). Extract may be added now.
In a bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar until light. Stir a quarter of the heated cream into the egg mixture. Then continue to add the remainder as you stir. Be sure not to add all of the hot mixture at once, or you will have sweet scrambled eggs. 🙂
Strain mixture into pyrex or other dish you can pour from. Place your ramekins into a baking dish that can be used as a water bath. Pour mixture into your ramekins. Pour hot water into the baking dish about halfway up the sides of your ramekins.
Bake 30 minutes or until centers are barely set. Remove from water bath. Cool and then place in refrigerator for a few hours. Ramekins can be wrapped and refrigerated for a couple of days.
When ready to serve, top each dish with a thin layer of sugar and use a kitchen torch or oven broiler to cook until sugar melts and browns/blackens a bit. Serve within 2 hours.

Sierra’s tips for success

Don’t be scared… You’ve got this!
Be sure not to boil the cream. If it’s too hot and also if you bake it too long, you will not end up with a smooth custard. It will still taste good, but it will not have that smooth mouthfeel.
I strain my custards for added measure. This helps to make sure you don’t end up with clumps of eggs or undissolved sugar in your finished product.
When the edges are set and the center still wobbles some, it is done. Do not expect it to be fully set like a cake. A little jiggle is ok, that goes for us too. 🙂
Don’t skip the chilling time. 4 hours/overnight is ideal.
Use a spatula to carefully lift your finished custards out of the water bath. Try not to let the water get into your custards.
I put my ramekins in a taller dish and wrap that in plastic or use a container with a lid if storing for a few days. This is so the plastic wrap doesn’t mess up the surface of my custards.
Have fun with it! This is a base recipe. Swap the vanilla extract for another flavor. Secret: Sometimes, I even like to replace a portion of the cream with flavored coffee creamer for an extra kick of flavor.
You can get ramekins at specialty cookware stores or Amazon, but Crate and Barrel sells a two-pack for a good price. You can get a torch from specialty cookware stores, but some type can be dangerous! I prefer using a blow torch attachment from Home Depot/Lowe’s and their small propane tank (it’s cheap). That way you don’t have to worry about filling/spilling butane.

CREDIT: ORIGINAL RECIPE FROM MARK BITTMAN, NYT