Creme Brulee~

This is one of my all time favorite deserts, but one I have never attempted to make on my own at home! We got a blowtorch at Thanksgiving to caramelize our HAM and we've been looking forward to another blowtorch recipe. Creme brulee is a pretty obvious one when you are thinking of ways to bring the blowtorch into the kitchen so I ordered some cute little dishes from Crate & Barrel and did some digging for a good first-go-round Creme Brulee recipe. I found Alton Brown's recipe HERE on the food network website.
This was a very simple recipe and Creme Brulee turned out to be an easy thing to make, thank goodness!!





Alton Brown's Creme Brulee
(I cut this recipe in half and it filled 4 dishes 5-inch diameter x 1-inch height, not sure how many oz. they are)

1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup vanilla sugar, divided (I used regular sugar and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract mixed)
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar (I just used regular sugar) equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.



This was SO yummy! I mixed some frozen raspberries with a little honey and put those on top. The next time we plan to have a dinner party these will for sure be on the menu, especially since you can get up to the refrigerator step and leave the brulee in over night. (Then just take them out to sit as soon as the main course is served).