Bake Club: Crème Brulee

Bake Club: Crème Brulee

Makes 4-6 individual or one large!

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla paste OR 1 bean split lengthwise (1 tsp vanilla extract if you don’t want to fuss)

4 egg yolks

¾ cup sugar

Pinch salt 

1 cup heavy cream

• Torch
• Granulated sugar to brulee!

Heat oven to 325F and ensure your middle rack is in place and nothing is above it.

In a medium size, heavy bottomed saucepan, bring 1 cup cream (leaving 1 cup behind cold), milk, and vanilla to a near boil. 

While the mixture is heating, in a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk yolks, sugar and to combine then slowly and gently pour the warm, milky mixture while whisking gently, being careful not to pour too much in at once (you don’t want to scramble the yolks!) This is called “tempering”- we’ll talk about it on Bake Club! Transfer the mixture back to the stovetop on low heat and stir gently for another minute to ensure all liquid is warm and homogenous.

Once all the warm mixture is whisked into the yolk mixture, pour it into the base of a blender. On the lowest speed possible (bubbles are your enemy!), blend the remaining cup of cold heavy cream with your warm mixture. You want a confident, homogenous mixture but not a bubbly mixture- think dense and creamy. 

Strain the mixture into a bowl and if there are bubbles, tap the bowl on the countertop aggressively to surface and pop the bubbles. Lightly and quickly torching the surface also helps.

Place one large or four-to-six individual ramekins into a sheetpan with tall walls or a baking dish large enough to hold the ramekin(s). Pour the creme brulee base evenly into ramekins. If any bubbles remain, torch the tops lightly then carry the pan to the oven, placing gently onto the center rack. Pour warm tap water into the pan until it covers the bases of your ramekins with as much water as the pan can hold without spilling over. 

Bake at 325F for 30-40 minutes or until the edges of the custard are set but the bulls eye center is still a bit loose. Gently remove from oven and cool in pan (where your creme brûlées will continue baking) until water is temperate enough to grab ramekins with your hands and transfer to the fridge to cool and set completely, at least 2 hours.

Before serving, pull out your torch. Paper towel dry the surface of each custard. Sprinkle just enough sugar on the top to coat, allowing any excess sugar to fall off into a bowl when you invert it. (I’ll show you my moves on Bake Club). 

Torch with confidence- your sugar will melt into a clear then light golden state. Take it further until it’s a deep golden, amber state- that ensures a deep caramel flavor and hard crack when you serve it up immediately after!