Creme Brulee
As a cook and baker, I have made crème
brûlée hundreds of times, in many different
flavor combinations, only limited by what’s in the cupboard and how many
ramekins I have clean.
About a year and a half ago, while working at a country
club in Ohio, the sous chef at the time taught me the basics of making crème
brûlée. It was super simple, all I had to remember was three numbers: 4, 1, 1.
This is the basic ratio for making crème brûlée and with
this, you can create almost any flavor. Sometimes things will need to be
changed around a little, due to high fat flavorings, but it’s nothing you can’t
handle. Trust me. Despite what people say, it’s not difficult. Mission
Plausible.
Crème brûlée is a rich velvet-like baked custard, crusted
in caramelized sugar. There are no words for its creamy rich taste.
Back to the ratio. It’s simple. Remember the ratio and you
will NEVER have another crème brûlée catastrophe.Four parts cream: 1 part egg
yolk: 1 part sugar.
Before starting, prepare your ingredients and equipment.
Mise En Place. Put your things in place. For this recipe, you will need a dozen
five-ounce ramekins, 1 heavy sauce pan, a whisk, a heat proof bowl, a chinoise
(a conical sieve with an extremely fine mesh), a ladle and a baking dish with
high sides, large enough to fit all of your ramekins.
First prepare your ramekins. Evenly distribute the ramekins
into the baking dish and then fill the dish with enough water, to go halfway up
the sides of the ramekins. Be sure to wipe out any ramekins that get water in
them.
Now you’re ready.
Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée
1 qt heavy cream (By subsituting half and half it will cut some of the calories and increase the protein amount, but decrease the overall richness)
12 egg yolks
1 c sugar (coconut sugar, if you have it!)
1t Vanilla extract
1.
Heat oven to 300 degrees
2.
Pour heavy cream into a heavy bottom
sauté pan and add in vanilla, steep just until steaming. Do not boil. If you
have whole vanilla beans, split length wise and scrape out seeds, adding them
to the heavy cream. Toss in the emptied pod, until finished steeping then
remove.
Special Note: You can
save your used vanilla beans in a container with sugar and you this for things
like morning coffee, on top of French toast, in baked goods and pretty much
anything you want sweet and to taste like vanilla. Simply wash the pod and add
to sugar.
3.
While waiting on the cream to steep,
combine sugar and egg yolks. The sugar will not completely dissolve, but once
the cream is added, it will.
4.
When the cream is warmed, temper the
egg yolks, by whisking in about an ounce of cream at a time. Do not just pour
in the cream, you must whisk as you add the cream, otherwise you will scramble
your eggs. If your bowl is trying to escape by sliding around the counter,
while you whisk, put a towel underneath of it.
5.
Once you have added at least half of
the cream into the egg mixture, it is now safe to add the rest of the cream.
6.
Strain through the chinoise, before
ladling into the prepared ramekins, which you should line up in your high sided pan and fill with water, up to about half an inch below the rim of the ramikens.
7.
A little tip, for restaurant style
crème brûlée, pass your torch over the surface of the crème brûlée, to pop any
bubbles.
8.
Place in the oven for an hour and a
half, being careful to not get any water into the brulees or they will not set up and you will have a soggy mess. The crème brûlée will jiggle like gelatin, but this is okay. Once they
have refrigerated, they will completely set up.
9.
Chill for at least an hour.
10.
When ready to serve, sprinkle with
sugar and hold at a forty-five degree angle, melting the sugar, holding the
torch still, as you rotate the ramekin. This step will help evenly distribute
the melted sugar.
Remember, many other flavors can be
created, by just changing out the vanilla with other extracts or by steeping
fruits, herbs or other ingredients in the cream, before tempering the egg
yolks.
By the way, I know what everyone is
thinking! Crème Brulee cannot, by any means, be considered healthy. But it is!
It’s not extremely healthy for you, but it’s a nice treat, you don’t have to
feel guilty, when having just one. What’s life if you can’t enjoy some treats
once in a while?
Egg yolks and the fat in cream
contain Omega 3 fatty acids, which turns into a natural anti-inflammatory. While
also providing you with 2.7 grams of protein per egg yolk. The heavy cream also
has four percent of your daily recommendation of vitamin A which is crucial for
health skin and a healthy immune system.
Enjoy, you deserve it!
