Phil's Crème Brulee
Phil's version
Adapted from the book Le Bec-Fin Recipes, by Georges Perrier
This is a relatively easy, crowd-pleasing dessert. This is where you really need to use vanilla beans (or at least high quality paste). This makes about 6 large servings (ramekins filled all the way) or 8 reasonable portions.
You can halve the amounts to make 4 servings, but use 4 egg yolks (not 3)
Ingredients
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 2 pods vanilla beans
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 7 Egg yolks (8 if eggs are small)
- Some granulated or confectioners (powdered) sugar for the crust (1 3/4 tsp for each ramekin)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add heavy cream, vanilla beans (scrape off the seeds inside and add them to the pot with the empty pod), and about half of the sugar.
- Heat them at medium heat until it starts simmering gently. You may need to whisk the mixture to distribute the vanilla seeds.
- Remove from the heat, cover the top with a lid, and wait for about 30 minutes to infuse the vanilla flavor.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F
- Searate the yolks into a bowl. Save the whites for another recipe (meringue?)
- In a large bowl, mix the yolks and the rest of the sugar. Don't whip too hard because you don't want bubbles - stop as soon as they are incorporated evenly.
- Slowly add about 1/3 of the heated liquids to the egg yolk mixture while mixing with a whisk until it looks even.
- Slowly add the rest of the liquids as you mix.
- Mix it with a spatula at the end to ensure it's mixed evenly.
- Strain it with a fine sieve to remove the vanilla pods and any cooked egg and pour it into ramekins equally.
- Place a deep sheet tray (I use a lasagna pan) in the oven rack, lay a thin cloth or paper towels, and pour hot simmering water so that a little over 1/2 to 2/3 of the height of ramekins can dip in it.
- Carefully place ramekins onto it and b when adding vibrations. Adjust the time and temperature depending on the oven, thickness, amount, etc.
- Bake them for about 30-40 minutes, checking after 25 minutes (if making 6, they will have more custard in them so will take longer). They are done when the filling jiggles slightly like a pudding or jello. Do not bake until fully set!
- Take them out carefully and cool them on a wire rack.
- Move them to the fridge to chill them for at least 2 hours.
- Spread the sugar over the surface evenly and burn it with a torch to create a thin layer of caramel crunch. Wait for a few minutes until the caramel cools down.
- As an option, top it with fresh berries, mint, or any ingredient you desire and enjoy!
Notes
The custard filling
- Don't skip passing the custard through a sieve. As with any egg custard, there will be pieces of scrambled egg in the mixture somewhere
- You can also chill the baked creme brulee in the fridge overnight. In that case, wrap each ramekin after they cool down completely. The cream gets thickened slightly more compared to chilling it for a few hours although the difference is not significant.
The sugar caramelization
- When you store ramekins with plastic wrap on top, check if there is no excess water attached to the surface and gently remove it with a kitchen towel if you see it. Any water will make it difficult to caramelise the sugar on top.
- I prefer to use confectioner's (powdered) sugar, as it caramelises more easily
- Sometimes I will put the sugar on a tray in a warm oven for a while to dry out.
- Do not add too much sugar on top to prevent the caramel crust from getting too thick since it doesn't feel very pleasant. Spread it thinly so it delicately breaks when hitting it with a spoon.
- After burning the sugar on top, do not let it sit for too long to prevent the caramel from starting to sweat.
- Start torching sugar from the sides of the ramekins and slowly move inward to burn sugar evenly a bit easier.
- Decrease the strength of the blowing strength if you find it difficult to caramelize evenly.
- I use a 'real' blowtorch, not the little kitchen ones. They don't work very well.