Creme Brûlée

Directions

• Start by separating 4 eggs and placing the yolks into a medium sized mixing bowl.
• Lastly we need one whole egg, so just crack that straight into the mixing bowl.
• Add 3/4 Cup of Sugar;
• Using a whisk mix the eggs and sugar together. It doesn’t need to be beaten much, just enough until everything is combined and the sugar has mostly dissolved.
• Optionally here you can add flavouring, I’ve used a teaspoon of vanilla essence.
• Pour 2 Cups of Cream into a saucepan.
• Place over medium heat to bring to the boil. The cream needs to be just boiling, but not at a rolling boil or you can risk burning it.
• When it gets to this point quickly take it off the heat and very slowly start to add it to the eggs and sugar while whisking. Adding it too quickly you can easily end up with scrambled eggs. We want to slowly bring up the temperature of the eggs so we don’t change the consistency of the liquid.
• Keep whisking for about a minute to make sure everything is well combined.
• Even if you don’t think you have any lumps it’s always a good idea to strain the custard. We need to pour it into the ramekins so it’s a good idea for it be in a jug. Place a sieve over the jug and either pour or ladle in the custard. The sieve will catch any lumps leaving you with a perfectly smooth custard.
• Creme brûlée is traditionally served in individual ramekins, This recipe is enough for 4-6 depending on the size. Pour the custard into each ramekin, making sure they are all perfectly level so they cook evenly.
• Place them into a roasting dish or baking dish, just anything that is large enough to fit the ramekins with space around them. Pour in boiling water until it comes up about half way on the ramekins.
• Bake at 150d C or 300f for about 30 minutes, or until set.
• You will know they are done when you move them and they just have a slight wobble in the middle. Take them out of the oven and leave to cool for about 5 minutes.
• These need to cool down completely before adding the sugar on top so place them in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
• When the custard has cooled and you are nearly ready to serve remove from the fridge and leave to come up to room temperature, this should take about 20 minutes.
• Measure out some sugar into a small bowl, about half a tablespoon per creme brûlée.
• Sprinkle the sugar over the custard and turn it around to make sure it is evenly coated.
• It is a lot easier to use a blow torch, or kitchen torch to caramelise the sugar, but if you don’t have one you can also put it in the oven. Put it up to the highest temperature and place it right at the top, making sure to watch it carefully, you want caramelised sugar, not burnt sugar.
• You will start to see the sugar melt and start to turn to into little droplets. I find it’s much better to do this slower or else you run the risk of just just completely burning the sugar.
• Place the creme brûlée in the fridge for 5 minutes to make sure the sugar has hardened and the custard has come back up to room temperature.
• Your Creme Brûlée it’s ready to serve!