Crème Brûlée
Crème Brûlée is one of my favorite desserts of all time. The contrast between the exquisitely rich custard and the crispy caramelized crust is incredible. It's also surprisingly easy to make and great for parties!
Active Time: 40 min
Total Time: 3 hr
Ingredients
> 2 cups heavy cream
> 5 egg yolks
> 1/2 cup granulated sugar
> 1 vanilla bean (or a little over 1 tsp vanilla extract)
> pinch of salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Heat heavy cream in a saucepan on medium heat. If using vanilla bean: split vanilla bean in half, use a knife to scrape all the seeds out, and add them both to the cream. If using extract, directly add it to the cream. Heat until hot and just below a simmer. Immediately take it off the heat and let it rest at least 15 minutes.
3. In a bowl, mix egg yolks, granulated sugar, and salt until fully incorporated. Add a couple tablespoons of the cream into the egg mixture, and mix until fully incorporated. Repeat a few times. Finally, add the remaining cream and mix well.
4. Pour the mixture into ramekins (I used six 4oz ramekins) until nearly full.
5. Bake for 45 minutes in a water bath: place the ramekins in a baking dish and fill about halfway up with hot water.
6. Remove the ramekins, dry, and cool for at least 2 hours.
7. When ready to serve, top with a light coating of sugar. Use the blowtorch around 6-8 inches away to caramelize the sugar. Let it rest for a few minutes to harden.
8. (Optional) Top with your favorite berries and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Crème Brûlée really turns out best if you use a blowtorch, since it only caramelizes the sugar and doesn’t heat the custard. Alternatively, you can try using your oven’s broiler, but make sure to put the ramekin in an ice bath to avoid heating up the custard.
> The process of slowly adding the cream into the egg mixture at first is called tempering. If we were to add all of the cream immediately, it would increase the temperature too quickly and essentially scramble the eggs.
> It’s important to achieve a fine balance with the amount of sugar at the top: don’t put too much (otherwise the top will be caramelized but the bottom won’t), but you’ll want enough to cover the surface. Something like 1/3 cup divided amongst the ramekins is probably reasonable.
> You can refrigerate crème brûlée for up to a couple of days before serving.
> Blowtorching is an inexact science and something I kind of hand-wave. You should stop once you achieve the desired color at all spots over the surface.