Creme brulee is sexy.
I got out my vanilla beans, my creme brulee torch, a little Shatto cream, and made some magic in the kitchen today. It. Was. So. Good. Do you make sounds when you eat? I do – sounds of total enjoyment. Even if you don’t make sounds, this creme brulee might persuade you. It is that good.
Thanks to Williams-Sonoma for an easy recipe (which I slightly modified). It’s been awhile since I’d ventured into creme brulee territory, so I’m putting the last step first. (That way, if you don’t really want to make it, have someone else read the rest of the post and make it for you. This is all you’ll need.)
FINAL INSTRUCTIONS: Enjoy. Share with your lover. Or don’t. Either way, you’re bound to make a few sounds.
If you actually want the recipe, here it is:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3 vanilla beans, scraped out
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- dash of salt
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and place a pot of water onto boil. Put a towel in the bottom of a shallow baking dish and arrange four ramekins on top of the towel.
Put the heavy cream and vanilla beans (scrape the seeds out, use both the pods and seeds for this part) in a saucepan over a medium-low heat. Let warm until steam begins to come off the top and it starts to form little bubbles at the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and let steep for about 15 minutes.
While the cream and vanilla are steeping, combine the sugar, salt, and egg yolks. Beat with a wire whisk for about 5 minutes until a thick syrupy beautiful yellow color.
Slowly mix the cream and vanilla (after you have taken the vanilla pods out) into the egg yolk mixture. After the mixture is combined and smooth, pour into the ramekins (which should be on top of the towel in the shallow baking dish!). Place the baking dish in the oven, and then take that saucepan of boiling water and pour the water into the baking dish (but NOT the ramekins!).
Bake for about 30 minutes until the sides are set. Take out and place the ramekins in the fridge to cool for about 4 hours. (You didn’t think something so delicious would be ready in five minutes, did you? That’s called a quickie. Creme brulee is not the quickie sort.)
After 4 hours of (agonizing) waiting take the creme brulee out of the fridge. Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the top and get out your creme brulee torch to caramelize the sugar. Then caramelize it! (Really, did I have to add that last sentence?)
And you’re done – except for the final instructions, which can be found before the recipe. (Just where you expected them, right?)
