Crème Brûlée

Daria Souvorova

3 hours
serves: 4 people

Nico loves Crème Brûlée, and I love baking him delicious things! I just refilled my butane torch and have been itching to see if my Crème Brûlée would be improved by using one of the vanilla beans I brought back from Hawaii instead of the vanilla extract I was using previously.

OMG! It. Was. Amazing! Totally worth using a vanilla bean, and you can make vanilla extract out of once used beans by submerging them in vodka for a month or so! If you don’t have vanilla beans, don’t worry, replace the bean with 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups half and half (or heavy cream)
• 1 vanilla bean, or 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for the crust

1. 1. 1. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out as many seeds as possible. Combine seeds, bean, salt, and cream together in a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 15-20 minutes. If you are using vanilla extract, follow the same instructions, but you do not need to steep.
      2. Whip egg yolks with sugar until light and fluffy.
      3. Add 1/4 of the cream mixture to the eggs, whip to combine, add the remaining vanilla cream.
      4. Pour into four dishes and carefully place those dishes onto a high sided cookie sheet.
      5. Pour cool water halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
      6. Preheat oven to 325°F.
      7. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the centers are set.
      8. Remove from water bath, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours to fully set.
      9. Add about 1 tablespoon sugar evenly to the surface of each custard and brûlée with a butane torch. If you do not have one, you can broil for a few minutes, but check on it regularly to make sure you don’t burn too much.