I have made creme brulee many times, but I've never made it with a vanilla bean, or with the burned sugar topping. I know. Criminal. So, first time. You're here to witness...
Combine 1/2 the cream, sugar, vanilla bean (with seeds), and salt in a saucepan. Heat to dissolve the sugar. Then remove from heat, cover, and let steep, (sit for 15 minutes). Then add the rest of the cream.
Here come the eggs. Ten. 10. So many. So worth it. We use just the yolks. There's my handy, albiet slightly broken, egg separator. Pretty fun, eh?
Ten. 10 yolks. There they are.
Slowly whisking the cream into the yolks.
Straining the custard. (I had never done this in my previous Creme Brulee makings. Smart. Good thing to do... otherwise, there are times that you get small bits of cooked egg? while eating the Creme Brulee. I would recommend this step.)
Boil some water.
Pour the custard into the ramekins, which are sitting on top of a kitchen towel, in a 9x13" pan. The boiling water is then poured into the pan, around the ramekins. The water helps to cook the custard evenly.
Cook until just set. And allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate until cold.
Turbinado sugar (or Sugar in the Raw).
The top of the Creme Brulee has to be blotted slightly to be sure that it's completely dry. Then the sugar is sprinkled lightly on top.
Here comes the torch. Caramelize the sugar.
Isn't that cool? I mean, hot? It was so fun. I felt so chef-like.
There it is.
The book said, "A perfect creme brulee should be decadently rich and topped with a brittle, paper-thin sheet of burnt sugar."
So check out that paper-thin sheet of burnt sugar. It worked. And man was it grand!
If you've never made creme brulee, do it. Give it a try. It's not hard. SO worth it. Go to Jen's blog for the full recipe. Mmmm.
5 comments:
Jealous of your egg separator! I had quite the time. I got about halfway done and then got interrupted, came back and started just putting whites in with the yolks so I had to start all over :) Looks so good!
I am jealous to of your egg separator! I used to have the same one and it's magically gone. How do those things happen?
I am also jealous of your egg separator! ;) I didn't use the vanilla bean, did you like the flavor more than just extract. I saw in the notes that you could use extract so I didn't bother but do I need to try it next time? It looks perfect!
hey... I have that egg separator!! :) So glad you enjoyed this week! I was really trying to step up my picture taking this week after weeks of admiring yours. Thanks for your sweet comment. This was a fun and pretty easy week!
I actually have a Creme Brulee recipe that I always make, and it just calls for vanilla, not the bean. I think I prefer that one. Should I admit that? But this was really yummy, and fun to try it with the bean. I always wanted to try it this way, so this was a perfect time to do it. Either way creme brulee is my favorite!
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