This past week was my best girlfriend's birthday, and her favorite dessert is creme brulee. I'll admit, I've been secretly wanting to make this dessert for a long time, and I couldn't wait to bake this for her and me. Besides, we got to buy a mini blow-torch, how cool is that! I did some research on the best recipe to use, and this was a tossup for me, I was torn between Alton Brown's recipe & Culinary of Institute of America. Whenever I do doubt a recipe, I always fall to Alton Brown, he makes everything sound like a science project...and all of his recipes are guaranteed for SUCCESS. My favorite part of creme brulee is the cracking noise of the top when you hit it with your spoon, for some reason..it's music to my ears!
Adapted from Alton Brown
Ingredients:
1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup vanilla sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water
Directions1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually.
4. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins.
5. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
6. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
7. Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. 8. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Review: This dish was fairly easy to make, and I will make it again. The serving size is for about 6 dishes, I should have bought more ramekins. I didn't do the vanillar sugar, and just opted for regular sugar...it tasted perfect!
Enjoy!
