A delicate treat featuring a luscious custard beneath a crisp caramel crust. Crème brûlée hails from France and is made with heavy cream, egg yolks, and sugar, with a lovely vanilla aroma. The dessert is embarrassingly easy to make, yet the result is absolutely divine. Typically, once the crème brûlée has been baked and cooled, it is sprinkled with sugar and caramelized using a special kitchen torch, which melts the sugar and sets it into a glassy crust. If you don't have a torch, there are several approaches you can try: caramelizing under the broiler, pouring spirits or cognac over the top and lighting it, or some people even attempt to caramelize the sugar with a lighter. I tested all of these methods in my own kitchen. In my oven, even on the highest broiler setting, the sugar barely melted, and the dessert started to overheat significantly (it must be served completely cold). Next, pouring cognac over the top and lighting it didn't work either — apparently the sugar absorbs moisture from the custard and simply refuses to burn. And using a lighter is a completely hopeless idea; you're more likely to burn your fingers than achieve that coveted crust. However, I did find a great workaround — read on in the recipe below. By the way, the quantities listed yielded 4 servings of 250 ml each for me.
Ingredients:
- 400 ml heavy cream 33-38%
- 100 ml milk
- 5 egg yolks
- 70 g sugar + 3 tbsp for the caramel
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar (preferably made from real vanilla)
How to cook crème brûlée
Warm the heavy cream and milk until just warm. Pour into the egg yolk mixture and stir well to combine.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any undissolved bits of yolk or any stray pieces of egg white.
Prepare your ramekins, grease them with butter, and pour the mixture into the ramekins (mine hold 250 ml each).
Pour in hot water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Place in an oven preheated to 150°C (it is important to bake the dessert at this low temperature) and bake for approximately 40 minutes. The finished dessert should jiggle like jello. Let cool completely, then refrigerate for 2–3 hours.
If you have a kitchen torch, sprinkle the surface with sugar, caramelize it, and serve immediately. If you don't have a torch, make caramel on the stovetop. Spread 3 tbsp of sugar in an even layer in a skillet.
Over medium heat, cook the sugar until it melts completely, then continues to a light golden caramel color as shown in the photo (do not stir during this process).
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