Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy or light cream (or half-and-half)
- 1 Vanilla Bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream, vanilla bean and salt; cook over low heat just until hot. Let sit for a few minutes, then discard vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, add it now.)
- In a bowl, beat yolks and sugar together until light. Stir about a quarter of the vanilla cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir. Pour into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until centers are barely set. Cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours and up to a couple of days.
- When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer. Tilt the dish so the sugar moves across the top and covers the entire surface. Tip the dish over so th extra sugar falls off.
- Turn the Kitchen Torch on and start camelizing the sugar. Keep the torch moving in small circles and slowly cover the whole dish. Move on to the next area a little sooner than you think, the torch will continue to cook it as you work the next section.
Notes
- Take your time combining the hot milk and eggs. Going too quickly will scramble the eggs and ruin the dish
- After you fill the dishes, before you bake them, skim off any foam that forms. This will make the sugar stick better and lead to a nicer end result.
- You will know they are ready to remove from the oven when you nudge the dish, the surface moves like gelatin. They shouldn’t brown at all.
- Actually Brulee’ing the sugar takes practice, you might burn your first one if you have never done this before.
