It's Creme Brulee For Dessert Tonight

Thanks to my commenter, Mandos, who told me about creme brulee blowtorches, I now own one. I finally got around to making creme brulee again. I used the blowtorch on them this time, and they turned out perfectly. Don't they look delicious? Much easier than taking my chances with the broiler. The creme brulee blowtorch box came with four ramekins and a recipe. That makes two creme brulee recipes I have to try out now.

It's very easy to make. The only time-consuming part is waiting the two or three hours it takes for the creme brulee to cool off before you add the sugar to the top and torch it.

Here are the two recipes I have. This first one is from a French cookbook. I've used it before, and it is a good one. It made ten creme brulees. I wanted lots of creme brulee since we're out of desserts over here. We won't be out for long. Next I'm making something the Count requested and The Royal Spawn loves that I haven't made in awhile - chocolate truffles.

Creme Brulee

6 egg yolks
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the 1/3 cup of sugar. In a saucepan, scald the cream over medium heat. In a stream, add the scalded cream to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Stir in the vanilla. Strain the custard into six 1/3 cup ramekins or small oven-safe custard bowls. Arrange the ramekins/bowls in a baking pan. Add enough hot water to the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the custard is set around the edges but still slightly soft in the center. Let the custards cool, and then chill them for at least two hours or overnight.

Sprinkle the top of each custard with some of the remaining sugar, spreading it in an even layer and being sure that the custard is completely covered. With the creme brulee torch, move the flame continuously over the surface of the custards in a circular motion until the sugar melts and becomes golden brown and bubbly. Serve immediately.

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Here is the recipe from my creme brulee blowtorch kit. It makes much less creme brulee than the other recipe because the ramekins are small and shallow.

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons plus additional 1/3 cup sugar
2 extra large or jumbo egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare some boiling water.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and the 2 tablespoons sugar; cook, stirring occasioanlly until small bubbles appear around edges of pan, 5 - 6 minutes. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth and light. Pour hot cream mixture into egg yolks, a little at a time, beating continuously until well blended. Strain mixture through a fine sive into a bowl. divide mixture among four 4 oz. ramekins.

Arrange ramekins in a baking pan and place on middle shelf of preheated oven. Fill pan with boiling water to halfway up side of ramekins. Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil. bake until custard is just set, about 25 minutes. Chill 2 - 3 hours.

Follow instructions in the above recipe for using the creme brulee blowtorch.

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The creme brulee blowtorch can also be used to brown Baked Alaska, melt and brown cheese on top of French Onion Soup (I love French Onion Soup. Gotta beg The Count to make it again, and he'll get to play with my blowtorch. Heh heh.), glaze fruit tarts and other pastry desserts, heat and melt cheese on top of casseroles and lasagne, and blacken tomatoes, onions and jalapenos then blend for salsa. The ability to use the torch to glaze fruit tarts caught my attention, since I make fruit tarts. I'll have to try torching the glaze the next time I make fruit tarts, which probably won't be too long in the future.

Here's something else amusing. I just looked up "creme brulee" on Google and found out that there is a type of coreopsis (daisy) called "Creme Brulee". The flower is that same pale yellow as the custard. Learn something new every day.

I am so looking forward to enjoying creme brulee tonight. The Count doesn't think he can wait the 2 - 3 hours for the custards to chill, but as he keeps telling me... patience. It will be worth the wait.