Making creme brulee is definitely a finicky recipe requiring many gadgets. Assuming you have the stuff the recipe is fun and not too difficult. The main gadgets are the mini gas torch, mini ramekins, and of course a mini ramekin water bath metal holder (not so necessary). Before making the creme brulee on New Years Eve I checked the brulee torch and of course it was low on fuel.
I managed to track down the mini gas canister (I usually lose the flammable gas and buy a new one). I actually overfilled the torch past the line saying don’t fill past this line. When turning on the torch a huge 2 foot orange flame came out but keeping it on burned off enough fuel to return back to the normal blue flame. The ramekins are useful to have to snacks and water bath insert is not at all necessary but keeps the ramekins flat.
The vanilla beans are expensive. You can buy them on amazon for a few dollars each or expect to may like $5 each at whole foods. It is fun to scrape out the black vanilla seeds out of the pod. The black seeds look nice in the custard and probably adds better flavor. When done with the pods you can dry them and put in small jar with some sugar to make vanilla sugar. You can always use a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract.
I made the custard in the morning and let chill in the fridge during the day. The custard could be made the day before. Torching the sugar should be done soon before service. It is fun to watch the torching of the sugar. I torched the sugar after dinner then chilled briefly before serving.
When making the custard be careful not to burn the cream when boiling. Then slowly add hot cream mixture to yolks carefully while stirring to avoid over heating and cooking the yolks. I use an electric kettle with long spout for pouring the water into the shallow pan careful not to accidentally get water in custard. I did not have enough small ramekins to fit into my water bath gadget so had to improvise an attachment from the instant pot into the pan to rest the ramekins on resulting in uneven custard in the ramekins since the ramekins did not lay flat.
Anyways after all issue the creme brulee is not too difficult to make but you may want to practice before serving for a special event in case something does not work out. In the end it usually comes out great and looks impressive. When the sugar works out you break the crisp top of the creme brulee with a spoon and soft smooth vanilla-y custard is below.
Torching the creme brulee
Ingredients
- 1/2 vanilla bean, slice lengthwise with paring knife
- 2 cups heavy cream, chilled
- 2 1/3oz (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- pinch salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- 5-6 tsp demerara or turbinada sugar (for bruleeing)
Steps
Cook custard
- heat oven to 300
- scrape seeds from vanilla pod, use both pod and seeds
- combine 1 cup cream, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla seeds and pod into sauce pan
- bring saucepan to gentle boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar
- when boils, remove from burner, cover for 15m to let steep
Strain and pour into ramekins in water bath
- add remaining 1 cup cream
- whisk 1/2 cup of the cream into yolks until evenly colored and totally combines
- strain to remove solids
- pour into 4 ramekins
- pour water into shallow pan with ramekins until water covers 1/2 of ramekins depth
- bake for 30-35 minutes until digital thermometer shows 175 degrees
- remove ramekins from water bath, let cool to room temperature
Chill ramekins then torch top with sugar
- chill in fridge until set (about 4 hours)
- to each ramekin add 1 1/2 to 2 tsp demerra sugar
- using brulee torch or broiler melt sugar until golden brown
- refrigerate uncovered to rechill about 30 minutes
