Creme Brulee

My sister absolutely loves creme brulee and has been asking me to make it for her since the beginning of time. So this year for her birthday I decided to surprise her and make creme brulee. Of course I bought the wrong size ramekins because they were huge and could have fed two people instead of just one. Ooops!


Creme Brulee

2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split
2 oz granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
granulated sugar, as needed

Heat the cream and the vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over medium high heat until bubbles appear along the sides of the pan.
Quickly whisk the sugar into the yolks.
When the cream is hot, slowly pour it into the yolk mixture. Whisk until well combined.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a pitcher or large measuring cup. Scrape the vanilla bean with the tip of a paring knife to remove the remaining seeds; stir the seeds into the custard.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Arrange the ramekins in a 2 inch deep pan. Pour the custard into the ramekins. Set the pan of ramekins inside the preheated oven and then carefully pour enough water into the pan to come 2/3 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until just set, 45 to 50 minutes. The custard should be set, not soupy, with only a small area of jiggle in the center.
When the custards are done, carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and allow the ramekins to cool in water bath. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before service or up to 2 days.
At service, sprinkle tops of custards with granulated sugar, then immediately caramelize the sugar with a blowtorch or broiler.
recipe from On Baking

Tips: Before putting custards into the oven, turn on your blowtorch and gently go over custards. This removes air bubbles.
I have never heard of letting the custards sit in the water bath after taking them out of the oven, I always dump the water right away. When you are doing this at home, I used a baster to remove the water because my oven is too low and too far from the sink. Plus, I am not a fan of hot water (too many bad memories and physical scars).