Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Creme Brulee



The first time I ever had Creme Brulee was a few years ago at the Roof at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I fell in love with it then. On our cruise to Italy last year, I ordered Creme Brulee every chance I got. I have wanted to try making Creme Brulee for a very long time. My kids gave me a set of ramekins and a torch for my birthday in March and I just now made this little bit of heaven. The recipe, if I had been paying attention, made way too much for the ramekins that I had so needless to say I dumped some in a couple of other oven friendly bowls and baked up the rest of it. If you try this recipe, cut it in half. Hope you will try it out.

Start with 10 egg yolks.


Put cream into a sauce pan and simmer until hot but do not boil.



Beat the eggs until golden and add the sugar. Mix well.



Add 1 cup of hot cream into the eggs a little at a time to temper the eggs. This heats up the eggs and gets them used to the heat without cooking the eggs. Then add the rest of the cream while mixing. It will be light and frothy.


Pour the mixture into the ramekins that are on a baking sheet. Put the baking sheet into the oven and add water to the pan so that it comes up the sides of the ramekins.


Bake for 30 minutes. The center will still be a little wiggly. Do not overbake. You might need to watch them right at the end so they don't brown. Cool on the counter and then put into the fridge for 2-3 hours to chill.


When you are ready to eat, take out the ramekins, sprinkly with fine baking sugar (or regular if that is what you have) and then use a Creme Brulee torch to caramelize the top. (I think you could use your pre-heated broiler if you don't have a torch) EAT immediately.


The little ramekin! YUMMY!


Even better the next day. Of course, this ramekin is bigger than the others. Love this recipe. I will be making this again but I will make sure to half the recipe. I hope you enjoy.

Stay tuned to the other recipe I made the same night but was a real FLOP!


Crème Brûlée

Prep Time: 20 Minutes | Cook Time: 30 Minutes | Difficulty: Intermediate | Servings: 6


Ingredients
■4 cups Heavy Cream
■1 whole Vanilla Bean OR 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract OR 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Paste
■10 whole Egg Yolks
■¾ cups Sugar
■6 Tablespoons Superfine (Baker's) Sugar
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Pour the cream into the saucepan. Add vanilla (whichever product you’re using) and simmer over medium-low heat.

Whip egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow and thick.

Strain cream using a fine mesh strainer.

Whip yolks while you very slowly drizzle in 1 cup of warm cream. Go slowly so as not to cook the eggs! Once the first cup is added, you can add the rest of the cream slowly.

Place ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet. Pour custard mixture into ramekins. Pour water in bottom of baking sheet until it comes halfway up the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes, or until just set. Do not allow to get brown.

Cool ramekins on countertop, then chill for at least 2-3 hours, covered in plastic wrap.

To serve, sprinkle 1 tablespoon over each ramekin of custard. Use a kitchen torch to quickly (but carefully) brown the sugar. There should be a thin, crisp surface of burned sugar on the top.

Serve immediately

1 comment:

  1. Hi Marjean! I love creme brulee. You should try it with fresh berries on top. Add them just after you heat the sugar and they get embedded in the sugar crust. Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc. It's a lil bit of heaven! Love and BIG HUGS, (Cousin) Steph

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