Creme Brûlée - It's not that hard...

Ask my nine year old her favorite dessert and without hesitation she will tell anyone that will listen "Creme Brûlée".  When I asked her what language she would like to learn, she exclaimed "French!!! Because I already know Creme Brûlée".  She now judges restaurants by the quality of their offering of this creamy dessert.  And if they don't serve it... the restaurant is definitely not up to her standards.

As you can imagine, her mature palate can get a bit expensive. By taking a little time to make this treat at home, you can make 8 servings for the price you would pay for one dessert in a $$$ restaurant.

The recipe I am sharing with you is of restaurant quality.  If you follow the instructions, you will impress your friends and wow your family - guaranteed!

2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
9 egg yolks
1/2 cup superfine sugar

Heat cream, milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla until scalded.  
Scalded means the mixtures is hot and small bubbles around the side of the pot, but NOT boiling.

Temper egg yolks with hot mixture and add to pot.
You are making Creme Brûlée, not scrambled eggs.  If you add your egg yolks to your hot cream mixture, you will end up with a batch of milky scrambled eggs.  Place your egg yolks in a heat proof bowl. To temper - as you beat the egg yolks with a hand held whisk, pour a bit of the hot cream mixture into the eggs, add more of the cream mixture to the eggs. (you are attempting to SLOWLY raise the temperature of the eggs).  Once you have mixed in about 1/4 of the cream mixture into the eggs, pour the mixture back into cream mixture in the pot. Whisk the mixture a bit more to ensure the eggs and cream are thoroughly mixed.

Strain mixture and pour into ramekins for baking.
If you have some lumps in your cream mixture, strain through a fine strainer.  Evenly divide your cream/egg mixture into your ramekins.  Depending on the size of your ramekins, this recipe will make 6 - 8 servings.

Bake in water bath at 375 degrees until done.  (about 20 minutes) 
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  While the oven is coming to the correct temperature, boil a tea kettle (or pot that is easy to pour from) of water.  Place your full ramekins in the pan.  When the oven reaches the desired temp, place the pan in the oven THEN pour the boiling water into the pan, being careful not to splash any water into your dessert dishes.  Fill the pan with water about 1/2 way up your ramekins. This is the easiest method to creating a water bath. 1.You do not have to carry and balance a pan filled with water and 2. Your water is already hot, so it starts working its custard making magic the minute you close the oven door.

The Creme Brûlée is done when the center no longer jiggles.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in the water bath for about 30 minutes.  Next, place on a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least two hours.  Better to let them cool overnight (if you can wait that long).

15 minutes before serving... Brûlée your Creme Brûlée
Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the top of your cooled dessert.  Using a Creme Brûlée torch or a small handheld propane torch, slowly move your flame back and forth over the sugar.  Be careful not to keep the flame in one place for too long or you will surely burn the sugar!! Once the sugar is amber brown, melted, and smelling delicious, let your dish cool for another minute or two.
The correct way to dig into a dish of Creme Brûlée is to crack the caramelized sugar with the back of your spoon, then dig in.

As  you can see... I was so ready to dig in that i didn't even get a great picture of the finished product!!
ENJOY!