Crème Brûlée
Date Completed: 1/30/2022
We bought a kitchen torch! Of course that means we had to make crème brûlée. Because we didn’t want leftovers, this offered a perfect opportunity to use our America’s Test Kitchen The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook. The book was a Christmas gift from my mom to both of us. This recipe is from the Cookies, Cakes & Custards chapter.
We read the instructions on that torch many times before we turned it on. Exciting and nerve-wracking!
We started making the custard by steeping a vanilla bean, warm cream, and sugar for about 15 minutes. We then added more cold cream so that we could safely start adding egg yolks into the mixture. Once combined, we strained it all. This process allowed us to easily temper the eggs.
We divided the custard between two ramekins placed them in a baking dish lined with a rag. After we put the dish in the oven, we added boiling water to the pan. They baked until barely set.
Then came the hardest part - the waiting! The custards cooled to room temperature for two hours. Then they needed two additional hours in the refrigerator. Who knew there would be a 4-hour wait?
Finally! Torch time! We purchased the special Turbinado sugar for this recipe and sprinkled it generously on each custard. Garrett took over for the torch process while I snapped the photos. He loved it! Definitely very satisfying to see the sugar melt and then caramelize. I did get a turn with the torch as well and had so much fun!
Taste Report:
ATK says contrast is the key to excellent crème brûlée. You want a crunchy crust and a creamy custard. This recipe certainly delivered both!
The custard had a strong vanilla flavor with a wonderfully thick and creamy texture. I loved the thin, crackly layer of sugar and how it provided that classic balance of bitter and sweet. Another great contrast!
I can practically hear the sugar cracking in that last photo!
I did find it odd that all of the vanilla bean seeds sunk to the bottom of the custard. I had eaten almost the whole thing before I saw any seeds. Strange! Though it didn’t seem to impact the taste.
Mess Report:
I concluded my tasting notes about this recipe with the following sentiment: It’s perfect, but it takes all day.
I did, however, appreciate that all of the dishes were done by the time we got to finally enjoy this treat. It truly doesn’t make a big mess! And the final step doesn’t create any additional mess. A silver lining to a long cooling process!
I would absolutely make these again! The custard process couldn’t have been easier, and the torching made it beyond fun.
We were clearly in a French cooking mood this winter!