Crème Brulée

Crème Brulée: one of my favorite guilty pleasures. An elegant dessert for a dinner party, but easy enough to just make for anytime, which is what I did today.

Also known as burnt cream, Crème Brulée is is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. It is normally served cold.

Normally, I use The Barefoot Contessa’s recipe for Crème Brulée, but I came across this new recipe on Cooking Melangery, and decided to give it a try, as it looked a little less involved.

It was delicious. I’m glad I gave it a try.

If you don’t have a kitchen torch, you can use your oven broiler to brown the top, which works equally well, and is actually a little easier, as you can do them all at once.

If you find after using the torch that your dishes have become warm, and you want to serve your dessert cold (as I prefer it) stick the dishes in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This will firm the custard up as well.

Prep Time: 15 Min

Cook Time: 35 Min
Ready In: 6 Hrs 35 Min
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
4 tablespoons white sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and line the bottom of a large baking pan with a damp kitchen cloth.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. While water is boiling, combine cream, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally 4 to 5 minutes, until steam rises.

In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Pour hot cream into yolks, a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all cream is incorporated. Pour mixture into four 6 oz. ramekins.

Place ramekins on towel in baking dish, and place dish on oven rack. Pour boiling water into dish to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover whole pan loosely with foil.