Créme Brûlée

Créme Brûlée is a fancy, restaurant-style dessert that can easily be prepared at home with a little practice and a few special tools. Is is basically a rich baked custard which is chilled, then covered with a layer of sugar. The sugar is then lit on fire - which causes it to caramelize. A mini kitchen blow torch is the right tool for this job, they are easy and safe to use, and relatively inexpensive - definitely a worthwhile investment! (See my post from December 2nd) Of course, you may just place the créme brûlées on the top shelf in your oven and broil them on high for a few minutes, but that is not nearly as fun. This also has the disadvantage of the entire dish becoming warm, when really the highlight of créme brûlée is the warm, crisp top over the cool, creamy bottom. 

You can make créme brûlée pretty much any flavor you want; chocolate, orange, caramel, vanilla, cappuccino, etc. I have done chocolate before, which is really good. This time I decided to do vanilla. Some chefs will insist you must use a real vanilla bean to achieve a good vanilla flavor, but I got very good results using vanilla extract. Just don't go for the artificial stuff, or you will definitely be disappointed. This is a basic recipe for vanilla créme brûlée. It can be altered to suit your tastes and the amount you need. Many cookbooks publish this same basic recipe, with a few slight changes such as oven temperatures and ingredient amounts. Some say to heat the milk and cream first, but I didn't find that necessary. Some also say to use a water bath while others don't. In my experience, I have found that a water bath helps the custards to cook more evenly.

Créme Brûlée
6 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk, evaporated milk, or half-and-half cream
1 vanilla bean or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325◦F. Grease six to eight ovenproof ramekins, and place them in a baking pan large enough to accommodate all of them. Prepare a kettle of water to boil. 

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick. Sugar should be dissolved and mixture will be frothy.

If using a vanilla bean, steep the contents in a saucepan with the milk and the cream for about 20 minutes. Strain, then temper the egg yolks with a bit of this mixture. Whisk the rest into the egg yolks until smooth. If using vanilla extract, skip the steeping process and simply add the milk, cream, and vanilla to the egg yolks. Whisk until smooth.

Divide mixture among ramekins. Pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins, being careful not to spill any water into the ramekins. Carefully place in preheated oven. Bake for about 50 minutes until almost set. Filling may still jiggle a little in the center, but will set upon cooling. Remove ramekins from hot water bath, cool completely. Chill for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days.

Sprinkle each ramekin with more granulated sugar. Ignite using a kitchen blow torch, or place under a preheated broiler on top rack in oven. Heat until sugar is browned and bubbling. Serve immediately.

I accompanied my créme brûlées with some homemade meringue cookies. A light garnish to balance out with the rich texture of the custards.