creme brulee

there’s something very satisfying when you smack your spoon against the smooth glass of sugar. the cracking of the surface fills our face with joy and excitement, like opening a birthday present. creme brulee literally means burnt cream. the ideal way to brulee the dessert is using a blow torch. but we’ll show you how to do it with the oven.

serves 2

heavy cream 1.5 cup
sugar 4 tbsp (60 g), divided into 2 portions
vanilla extract 1/4 tsp (1 ml)
egg yolks 2
hot water

• preheat oven 300 F (150 C)
• heat cream in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil
• remove and allow to rest for 5 min
• in a medium bowl, whisk vanilla, egg yolks and 2 tbsp sugar until sugar is completely dissolved (save the other 2 tbsp of sugar for later)
• add cream to bowl, a little at a time, continuously folding slowly (too hard and you’ll get bubbles)
• pour the mixture into 2 ramekins
• place the ramekins in a large cake pan or glassware
• pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the ramekins, carefully transfer to the oven
• bake 40 – 45 min, or until the center of the creme brulee is set, but still a little jiggly
• remove from the oven and place the ramekins in the fridge, for at least 2 hour, up to 2 days

• remove the ramekins from the fridge
• spread the remaining sugar evenly on top of the ramekins
• turn oven to broil on the highest heat, wait for the oven coils to turn bright red
• place ramekins on the highest rack
• keep a close eye on them, once brown on top, the creme brulee is ready
• be careful when taking out the ramekins, they may be hot. let it cool before eating

vanilla, sugar, and egg yolks

whip until smooth

slowly drizzle in the warmed cream

pour water halfway up the ramekins, then bake

cover with sugar evenly

golden brown sugar

commentaries

jun:

pouring the warm cream into the egg mixture too fast might scramble or cook the eggs, that’s why it’s important to add it slowly, or a little at a time.

as an alternative to vanilla, i used passion fruit that i foraged. you can experiment with other flavors too.

passion fruit essence

if your creme brulee looks brown on top when it comes out of the oven, that means your heat is too high, lower the temp

oven heat too high