A perfect crème brûlée is a delight. Rarely do you find a perfect one. Maybe I can help. Crème brûlée should be served in a shallow ramekin. It's rich, so 4-6 oz. is plenty.
It should be brûléed (torched) right before service because part of the joy of the crème brûlée is the sensation of warm on top/cold on the bottom and the juxtaposition of the warm crisp sugar brûlée with the creamy cool custard.
Sometimes the simplest dishes are the most difficult to perfect. A truly excellent crème brûlée is a perfect dish all by itself. You've got different textures and temperatures and flavors all in one little package.
What You'll Need
- 1 quart heavy cream
- 200 g. sugar
- 10 egg yolks
- flavoring (steeped vanilla bean is traditional, but steep cinnamon, zest, espresso beans or herbs or use any extract or liqueur you'd like)
- heavy pinch of salt
- Enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins
How to Do It
Put cream (and vanilla bean or anything else you're steeping in it) and half the sugar in a heavy saucepan.
Whisk yolks, salt and rest of sugar together thoroughly in a stainless steel bowl.
Bring cream mixture to a simmer. Turn off heat and let whatever you're steeping steep for 30 minutes, otherwise, just keep going.
If you've steeped something, bring the cream back up to a simmer and temper into the yolk mixture. Whisk thoroughly. It is not necessary to put the mixture back on the heat since you'll be cooking it more in the oven.
If you can't help yourself and you put it back on the heat and stir until it thickens, it won't work. The eggs will have thickened as much as they can. The best you'll be able to do is get a skin on top of what is now basically Creme Anglaise. Nasty.
Strain your mixture into a bowl placed in an ice bath and cool quickly. Add extracts at this time.
Chill custard overnight. This is not strictly necessary, but it will give you a better, creamier finished product. If you don't have the time, just keep going; it's up to you.
Day Two (or just later)
The next day, arrange your little ramekins in a large roasting pan with a tea towel in the bottom. Don't let your ramekins touch.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees, F. (You can do this at 300 or even 325, but again, your finished product will be better if you do it slowly. If you have the time, use the lower temperature).
Carefully fill your ramekins almost to the top with the custard. If there are any bubbles on top, pop them with your torch. This is fun, plus, your end product will be better.
If you have the time, let the custards sit at room temperature for a couple of hours. If not, just keep going.
Pull out your oven rack, set roasting pan with filled ramekins on the rack, then slowly pour in hot water. There will be less chance of splashing if you pour onto the towel. (It is also there for extra insulation).
Loosely cover pan with aluminum foil, making sure it's not sagging down into the custard.
Bake until custards are set but still shimmy just a bit. The whole surface of the custard should move as one with no waves or wiggling. This will take a long time, so check them after 40 minutes and then go from there. In a convection oven on low fan at 250 degrees, it takes over an hour, so if you don't have a convection oven, you're in for a long baking time. Don't give up, just check them periodically. I promise, your patience will be rewarded.
Remove them from the water bath and let cool for an hour at room temperature, then refrigerate uncovered overnight or up to 2-3 days. (Cover them once they are refrigerator temperature). This should help with any nasty condensation that could inhibit caramelization.
Remove the custards from the refrigerator and check for condensation. If you see any, blot it off with a lint-free towel of some sort.
Sprinkle a relatively thick (almost 1/8 inch) layer of granulated sugar evenly over the surface of the custard.
Hold the flame of your torch a couple of inches from the custard, moving it in even little circles to melt thesugarevenly, then brown it evenly. If your flame is too hot or too close to the custard, you'll end up with carbon on top of granulated sugar, and that's not at all what we're going for here.
Take your time to get a thick, even layer of caramel on top. If you don't have a heavy-duty torch, you can brûlée in two layers. Sprinkle on your sugar and tilt the brulee until the sugar coats the entire surface. Torch. Repeat.
Let sit for a minute or two for the caramel to harden into the characteristic crisp shell, then serve. Heaven.
