Creme Brulee

Real Custard w/ Real Vanilla Bean Essence

Servings: 6 (4-oz) ramekins | Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 40-45 mins

How to make rich, velvety, crazy good creme brulee. Creme brulee is gently baked custard topped with a caramelized sugar crust. It uses real simple ingredients: Real egg yolks, real cream, real sugar and real vanilla bean. Some recipes call for vanilla extract but we don't want you doing that. Steeping cream with real vanilla bean and seeds is a simple enough act that exceedingly enhances the flavor of creme brulee, taking it to the next level. It's the difference between good and exquisite. If you're going to take the time to make it at home, make it worth the effort and make it worth the calories!

After baking, chill the creme brulee ramekins. Just before serving, top with raw sugar then torch it to form a thin even crust of brittle, caramelized sugar. Crack the caramelized crust with a spoon to get to the gooey goodness underneath. The consistency is a rich creamy lightly set custard that melts in your mouth and has amazing vanilla essence. If you've tried creme brulee that has the mouth feel of instant pudding, you haven't had real creme brulee. Most likely some other thickening agent was used, like gelatin or cornstarch, to thicken and set the custard more quickly.

Here is an easy recipe for an divine dessert. Serve with fresh ripe raspberries, sliced strawberries, or other sweet fleshy fruit or mint.

• 8 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 pint (2 1/2 cups) heavy cream
• 3" vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped*
• Pinch of salt
• 8 tsp raw sugar for caramelized crust
• boiling water

Cut a 3" segment of a vanilla bean. (If you're doubling this recipe, simply use an entire vanilla bean.) Split it lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with a paring knife. Add vanilla seeds and pod into cream and heat in double boiler (or make-shift metal mixing bowl over saucepan) over low heat. Bring to simmer. Turn off heat and cover. Allow to steep for 20-30 minutes, depending on how much time you have to spare.
Adjust oven rack to lower middle position. Preheat oven to 300° F.
Boil water on the side, keep on low heat ready to use.
Beat egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy yellow.
After steeping the vanilla in cream, remove vanilla pod. Warm up the cream again after steeping. Temper cream into egg yolks, a little at a time while mixing so you don't cook the yolks. Strain entire mixture through a fine sieve to remove large clumps of egg protein. This will help maintain a silky smooth texture.
Return mixture to the double boiler and stir over low heat until mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat. (Do not boil, and do not overcook. Mixture will curdle, or get clumpy. If it does, there's no saving it. Your egg yolks are cooked.)

(Ever wonder why some recipes instruct you to fill your ramekins and go straight into the oven while others call for you to return the mixture to the double boiler and risk curdling? Here's why... 1) Returning the mixture to the double boiler and the constant stirring creates a creamier texture. 2) The simple step of returning the mixture to the double boiler helps to speed up the cooking process and cut your oven time in half. That equates to less energy output from the oven and less heat in your kitchen.)

Fill ramekins. Place ramekins evenly into a baking dish leaving space around each one. Fill baking dish with boiling water halfway up the ramekins. Bake in this water bath for 25 minutes for shallower ramekins (or 30 minutes for deeper ramekins) or until set but still jiggly in the center.
Remove ramekins from oven and water bath, being extremely careful because the water bath is essentially hot water at boiling point. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes.
Individually cover each ramekin with plastic wrap making it airtight. Refrigerate and chill for 8 hours or overnight.
Just before you're ready to serve, uncover the plastic wrap and lightly blot the surface of each creme brulee with a paper towel to eliminate excess moisture. If you skip this step, the sugar in the next step will not caramelize properly into a crust.
Spread 2 tsp of raw sugar on top of each creme brulee dish. Shake the sugar to evenly cover the entire surface of the ramekin. Torch the sugar to get a crisp golden brown caramelized sugar crust.
Serve creme brulee with a spoon and fresh fruits. Enjoy!

Tip: Always keep unused vanilla bean in a sealed airtight container to retain its full flavor and aroma.