Your Weekly Voilà: Classic Crème Brûlée 🥰🥣🇫🇷

PASSION • CREATIVITY • INSPIRATION

The sound of cracking burnt sugar on top of warm custard. So French. So delicious. So easy. Crème brûlée doesn't require special equipment (although a kitchen torch is handy just not necessary) and you need only five or so ingredients to achieve great results. My recipe is not the classic method of preparation but it's this side of foolproof with no constant stovetop stirring, need for a mixer, or fancy kitchen gagets. Just a bowl, whisk, and a few quality ingredients.

Let's get started . . .

Every Crème brûlée deserves berries, especially if they are sweet, tiny woodland strawberries and fresh mint from the garden.

First, a bit of history. Bien sûr. Crème brûlée might not have its origin in France. It's true. While the first recording of this delicious dessert is in a French cookbook, Cuisinier royal et bourgeois by the respected chef, François Massialot, in 1691, custards were very popular in England and Spain in the Middle Ages. Now, who was the first to caramelize the sugar on top? Could be England. Trinity College in Cambridge claims to be the birthplace of "burnt cream." Tradition holds that a student developed the recipe in the 17th century. It was a bit thicker and prepared without sugar. Then there is the Spanish tale where nuns were preparing a dessert for the bishop and they accidentally undercooked their flan, leading to a creamy, custard consistency. They tried to mend their creation with a touch of sugar on top and reheating and Voilà! - Crema Catalana - the Spanish take on our beloved Crème brûlée.

In French, crème brûlée means "burnt cream." Some 300 years after Chef Massialot, the dessert is definitely an important part of the country's cuisine having a National Crème Brûlée Day celebrated every July 27th. For the U.S., Americans knew nothing of this dessert until its craze in the early 1980s. Thank you Julia Child and her television cooking program.

This rich, creamy custard with a caramelized top is delicious no matter its origin. It can work well for a summer dessert for it is mostly served cold, topped with a few fresh berries. It's a good option to prepare when you have guests and don't want to fuss in the kitchen right after the meal. Easy peasy. Just five simple ingredients - cream, vanilla, salt, eggs, and sugar - and you're ready to prepare an elegant French dessert.

CLASSIC CRÈME BRÛLÉE

INGREDIENTS

6 egg yolks
3 c. (375 ml) heavy cream

1 c. (50 gm) powdered sugar
1 vanilla bean (or 1/2 t. vanilla extract)
Pinch of salt
6 t. turbinado sugar

This recipe makes 6-8 servings depending on the size of your baking dishes. Easy to divide the recipe in half and receive the same results.

Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C). Place a cloth towel on the bottom of a roasting pan and arrange six 5 oz. (150 ml) ramekins on the towel. You don't want the dishes to touch each other or the side of the pan. The towel keeps everything in place and prevents sliding when removing the pan from the oven. If you are steady of hand, you can forgo the towel. Just be careful when pulling the tray in and out of the oven.
Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl. If you are using vanilla extract, add it now. If you are using a vanilla bean, split it lengthwise with a knife and scrape out its seeds and place in a small bowl to add to the egg mixture after you strain the custard in step 4. If I think of it, I infuse the vanilla bean into the cream the night before and then strain it out. Whisk the eggs to break them up. Add the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt, and whisk until uniform.
Add a drizzle of the cream and whisk it into the egg/sugar mixture. Blend. Then add the rest of the cream and whisk until smooth.
Now here is the secret step: I don't cook the custard; rather, I strain the custard through a fine-mesh strainer. You know the kind: The one you use to sift dry ingredients. You can also use a piece of cheesecloth doubled. Or if you have a yogurt strainer, that works well too. I strain the custard right into a container that has a spout, such a large liquid measuring cup, making it easier to fill the ramekins. Again, if you add the vanilla bean to the cream the night or morning before you prepare the dessert, you will have the taste of the vanilla and a perfectly cream-colored custard.
Fill each baking cup near to the top with the custard. You don't want a lot of empty space between the surface of the custard and the top of the ramekin.
Place the baking pan on the rack in the preheated oven. Pour boiling water into the baking pan without getting any water into the ramekins. Fill until the water reaches 1/2 way up the side of the baking cups.
The depth of your ramekins or baking cups will determine how long it takes for the custards to bake. If the dish is less than 1 inch deep, bake for 30 minutes. If the custard is 2 inches deep, bake for 50-60 minutes. You want your custard to jiggle from side to side but not liquid in the center.
Use tongs to remove the ramekins from the water bath and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve. They will firm up quite a bit while they chill.
Now it's time to brûlée. Remove ramekins from the refrigerator and gently dab the tops with a paper towel to remove any moisture. Sprinkle the tops with a fine layer of turbinado sugar if you have it. Regular granulated sugar will work too. The key is for the sugar to be an even layer. Shake the ramekins back and forth to distribute the sugar evenly. Tap out any excess. You want to be able to see the custard through the thin layer of sugar.
If you don't have a kitchen torch, arrange a rack in the oven in the highest position. Place the ramekins on the rack and turn on the broiler. This is important: Putting the ramekins in a cold oven, then turning on the broiler keeps the custard cool while getting the top crisp. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes, rotating them frequently so that they broil evenly. Take them out when they are golden brown and bubbling. It takes about 5 minutes for the sugar to set. Then refrigerate for 30 minutes (any longer than that and the sugar crust goes soft - ew). Serve cold in the summer. Or serve warm from the oven in winter. Delicious either way!!

The secret to the "easy peasy" recipe is . . . to use powdered sugar and then strain the custard. Voilà!
A smooth and rich Crème Brûlée every time!

An oven-broiled brûlée tends to be a bit more rustic than its kitchen-torched cousin. But I like the craters of sugar, the slight unevenness of the color, the spattered sugar on the sides of the dish. If you have a torch, go for it. What you want is the perfect color. Not too light. Not too burnt. I lean a tiny bit toward "too burnt." Because, the burnt sugar helps to balance out the sweetness of the custard. I like that. Add a few plump, ripe berries foraged or picked from the garden to the top and you have created the right final touch and taste. Bon appétit!

Try a new simplified recipe of a French classic dish this weekend.

À bientôt mon amie,
Karen 🥰🥣🇫🇷

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