Naomi's First Creme Brulee

8:14 PM |

Naomi's First Crème Brûlée - I had problems with the broiler method

As promised I made my first Crème brûlée today. Before I begin my diatribe about all my blunders and triumphs, I will will share my basic recipe. The ramekin is the same one that I used for the spinach quiche, so it is pretty big for this dish. I had to adjust the recipe for the ramekin volume. So here it is:

3-1/2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons and 1-3/4 teaspoons white sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups heavy cream

Before I began the filling I spun some sugar the night before. Or, as Dominique and Cindy Duby writes - "Caramel Recipes". These are sweet toppings to one can put on top of a Crème brûlée, ice cream, or any other dessert. It gives the pastry a professional appearance. Their book has five pages recipes for different spun sugar toppings: basic caramel, caramel cages, caramel threads, caramel dust, pulled caramel, caramel paper, caramel glass, caramel nuts and bubble caramel. For their exact recipes and techniques you will need to buy the book.

I ruined my first batch. I was not paying attention to it and it turned a dark maple color. When I tasted it, it tasted very bitter. It went right into the trash. I am brave enough to show you my kitchen failures as well as my success, so you will know what something should NOT look like.

I realized that basic caramel, "spun sugar" must be baby sat. They said not to stir it too much in the pot, but I did just a little anyway. I could not help it. Anyway, the second time around produced much better results. The color difference is very slight. The difference in taste is enormous.

Next, I followed the basic Crème brûlée mixing instructions. One must be careful not to pour hot cream into the egg yolks because the yolks will cook. I did not have any problem mixing my basic ingredients.

I poured the mixture into the ramekin and gently skimmed off the bubbles and foam with a spoon. One should not want bubbles or foam at the top of their Crème brûlée because it will interfer with the torching process at the end.

I cooked the mixture in a water bath, and baked at 325 degrees for thirty minutes. Then I checked it, it was brown around the edges but still had a watery giggle in the middle. (must get smaller ramekins). I let it sit in the oven for another ten minutes then removed the custard from the oven. I let it sit in the water bath for fifteen minutes before putting it in the fridge.

The Crème brûlée slept in the refrigerator overnight. The following day I sprinkled the sugar and put it under the boiler for four to five minutes. This part did not work so well. The edges burnt a little. I guess that is okay, and normal. I do not like the look of it. Also, the top coat of sugar did not caramelize enough. I think that I did not add enough sugar before broiling. I really do need to bet a proper torch. I plan on making at least ten recipes from Dominique and Cindy's book and a proper torch will be most helpful.

The final product tasted delicious! I am very happy with it.