Crème brulee has always seemed like a special dish to me. A dessert that I just couldn't imagine making myself - I figured it had to be anything but easy to make.
I was right and wrong.
One night I really wanted to surprise my husband with a delicious dinner - complete with dessert. To be honest, sometimes skip the last course if I am making an already complicated main course. I think it's really important to know your limits in the kitchen so your not always getting frazzled at the last minute. For me, after cooking a nice dinner, dessert usually = me frazzled. It's hard enough to time a dinner perfectly, but then to have the dessert come out warm and perfectly on time still eludes me. This creme brulee recipe actually lent itself well to a fuss-free dinner time. Most of the prep was done before-hand and kept in the fridge until the very last step that could be done after everyone was done eating. BUT, I still managed toburn it to bits mess it up! Think I recovered? Read on....
Begin by preheating oven to 300 degrees (F)
Step 1: Combined the cream, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. Whisk until nice and creamy.
I was right and wrong.
One night I really wanted to surprise my husband with a delicious dinner - complete with dessert. To be honest, sometimes skip the last course if I am making an already complicated main course. I think it's really important to know your limits in the kitchen so your not always getting frazzled at the last minute. For me, after cooking a nice dinner, dessert usually = me frazzled. It's hard enough to time a dinner perfectly, but then to have the dessert come out warm and perfectly on time still eludes me. This creme brulee recipe actually lent itself well to a fuss-free dinner time. Most of the prep was done before-hand and kept in the fridge until the very last step that could be done after everyone was done eating. BUT, I still managed to
Easy Creme Brulee Recipe
What You'll Need:- 2 cups heavy cream
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Begin by preheating oven to 300 degrees (F)
Step 1: Combined the cream, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. Whisk until nice and creamy.
Step 2: Pour mixture into ramekins.
Step 3: Place the filled ramekins into a baking pan and fill the baking pan with hot water (about halfway up the sides of the ramekins).
Step 4: Place the pan with the ramekins in the middle rack of the oven for about 45 minutes. It is done when you can stick a knife in and it comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes on the counter. Or, if you made them a day or few hours in advance, just stick in the oven until you are ready for the last and final step!
Step 5: Sprinkle a layer of the light brown sugar on top of each. It must be thin while completely covering the custard (And I always say a little extra sugar never hurts!)
Now you can torch them! If you don't have a torch (which I didn't) you can put them under the broiler AND WATCH THEM CAREFULLY. Or this happens.....
I didn't realize how quickly sugar would catch fire! But these ramekins were FLAMING when I finally checked on them! If only I had had the chance to get a picture of that :)
The good news is that this only affected the very top sugar of the crème brulee. Once I scraped off the burnt sugar, the rest of the dessert was unscathed underneath! I just sprinkled on a fresh layer of sugar, put back under the boiler AND WATCHED CAREFULLY until they were a golden brown.
Success = two empty ramekins!
(Plus a funny story - thank goodness my husband has a great sense of humor!)
Good Luck! :)
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