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Creme brulee recipe - Food and recipes of France

For years I was put off creme brulee, for reasons that I have long forgotten. But after years of pressure from my family I was eventually persuaded to try it. Perhaps we were in a restaurant where everything else was 'off the menu'. To cut a short story even shorter, it was great and I have enjoyed it many times since. It still took a while before I was brave enough to make it myself, having seen it made on television using something like an flamethrower for the finishing touches.

4 egg yolks

300ml whipping / double cream

vanilla pod

1 tablespoon caster sugar

demarara sugar

Method

• Heat the cream gently in a saucepan with the vanilla pod
• Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar together, then slowly pour in the warm cream, stirring continuously
• Remove the vanilla pod and divide the mixture between the ramekins (little creme brulee dishes)
• Put the ramekins in a roasting tin, and pour water into the tin until it is 2/3 of the way up the edges of the ramekins. Make sure water does not splash into the ramekins.
• Put in a preheated oven (160-170 degrees C) for 30 minutes
• Allow to cool (you can put them in a refrigerator to speed this up). They should be completely cold before the final stage.
• Sprinkle a thick layer (3mm) of demarara sugar on top of each one. Put them under a high grill, close to the heat, until the sugar has melted together. Watch attentively! If the sugar is melting unevenly turn them around. Should take less than 5 minutes.
• Or use a propane blowtorch if you have one to hand.
• The creme brulee should now have a 'crunchy' top. Eat within 30 minutes or the crust will start to go soft.

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