In my previous recipe post of chocolate mousse there was no cream used. Yet in this post its all about the cream. Totally unintentional. I have recently been doing nearly all of my shopping on line and I am rather cavalier when clicking items into my basket. On this occasion I thought I had ordered two vanilla yogurts. What I got was two cartons of luxury Jersey cream. I double checked my order – the error was all mine. I hate waste. so my problem was what to do with the extra cream that entailed as little work as possible? I had two choices; butter or crème brûlée. I know that crème brûlée is an indulgence which the cholesterol propaganda police have slightly ruined for me in recent years, but neither could I bring myself to pour the cream down the drain. Even though my brain was screaming ‘make butter’ I wasn’t listening. My heart said loudly ‘crème brûlée’.
Crème brûlée is a classic pudding, consisting of an egg custard with a burnt caramelised topping. Custard comes in many forms but crème brûlée has to be the king of custards. It has a smooth, rich, creamy vanilla taste which is then complimented by a sweet brittle toffee like flavour that comes from the caramelised sugar topping.
It’s true pedigree is unknown but I do like the story of an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge who had suggested the recipe of burnt cream to the cook who promptly refused to make it, saying it wasn’t for Trinity. Fast forward a few years and that same said student went on to graduate and become a fellow of Trinity whereupon the cook was obliged to make it and the rest is history!
There are two methods of making crème brûlée. The first is to beat the egg yolks with the sugar and put them over a bain-marie on top of the hob, adding the hot cream and stirring until thickened. The second method is to heat the cream to boiling point, add to the sugar and egg yolks and then pour into ramekins which are placed in a bain-marie in the oven. The big difference with the oven version is that you don’t need to stand over it and stir and, more importantly, by going the oven route you are lessening the chances of the eggs splitting or curdling.
Crème brûlée is easy to make and can be made the day before. The only thing that needs to be done just before serving is to caramelise the sugar – if you do this too far in advance the brittle topping will start to soften. This is caused by the humidity in the air. Caramelising can be done with a blow torch or under a hot grill. I prefer the grill method mainly because I am a coward when it comes to handling a blow torch. I allow the grill to get very hot as it helps to caramelise the sugar quicker and stops the custard underneath from warming up too much.
Getting the thickness of caramelised sugar on the top just right can be difficult. Put too much sugar on and it will burn and not caramelise properly. The way around this is to put two thin layers on. As soon as the first layer has melted sprinkle a second layer of sugar and replace under the grill.
When it comes to which sugar to sprinkle on top I have found that demerara sugar is the best. Caster sugar tends to go a little grainy.
This recipe is very straight forward and the formula is; to each 100 ml of double cream add one large egg yolk with 5 grams of caster sugar. The amount of sugar used is up to you. I think 5 gms per 100 ml of double cream is about right, but you might prefer to use a little less. The only thing that changes is the length of time in the oven which depends on the size of your ramekins.
Once all the hot cream has been added you should have a custard thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Crème Brûlée
makes 4 large ramekins or 8 small
Ingredients
600ml double cream
6 large egg yolks
vanilla pod or 1 tbs vanilla extract
30 gm caster sugar
1 tsp approx demerara sugar per ramekin
Method
Heat oven to Gas 2/150C
In a bowl mix together the caster sugar and egg yolks.
Put double cream and vanilla into a pan until it reaches boiling point. Remove from heat and if using vanilla pod remove the pod.
Pour the double cream slowly into the egg and sugar mixture stirring all the time until all the cream has been mixed in.
Pour into ramekins and place these into a baking tray. Fill the baking tray or oven proof dish with hot water until it reaches just over half way up the ramekins.
600ml cream mixture split into 4 ramekins
Place in the oven.
8 small ramekins take about 25mins and 4 large ramekins take around 45 minutes. Open the oven and check – the custard needs to have set around the outside yet still have some wobble in the centre.
When done, remove and allow to cool. Remove from the bain-marie and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
Just before serving heat up the grill so it is hot and sprinkle sugar on the tops distributing evenly. Place under grill and as soon as the sugar has dissolved remove. DO NOT STICK YOUR FINGER IN to test if the sugar has caramelised and hard. Hot melted sugar causes pain! It took a while for me to learn this little lesson. Leave for a few minutes for the sugar to cool and harden. Then test. If a thicker caramel is wanted repeat the process.
Serve
Maria Dernikos 
Ahh creme brulee is absolute favorite! It’s my father’s, too, so I’ll be making it for him this week on his birthday. Can’t wait 🙂
I do hope he enjoys it. Happy Birthday to him.
Fabulous recipe!! Love and shared…tweeted!! Sandy
Thank you Sandy and thank you for tweeting it!!
Sorry your seeing an old blog from WP.com….my domain is in the process of moving to another host…..so everything is all messed up!! Your welcome!!
Oh how I love crème brûlée. I even bought a special torch to brûlée crème brûlées, and… never made a crème brûlée since getting it, and that was years ago (I did use the torch to brown the top of a meringue once). I love how you ordered the wrong items, I can definitely imagine myself doing that, and then having to come up with ways of using up the stuff. Crème brûlée is a wonderul choice, it is creamy, sweet, and so comforting, a kind of dessert that brings back childhood memories.
I too was bought a torch many years ago as a present. I have never been brave enough to get it out of the box. I hope this will push you to make it.
I order them after dinner on the ship when travelling, but I have never made crème brûlée. I was waiting to read about the blow-torch, but you made it possible with oven’s broiler. The recipe coming from you (with all the dos and don’ts) I am going to give it a go. Thank you! 🙂
Do give it a go when you do you will realise how easy it is.
Maria, this is beautiful! I love good creme brulee (which in my view is not easy to come by) and yours looks phenomenally inviting! Fabulous!
Thank you Stefano – I don’t think I know of anyone who doesn’t like it.
Looking simply perfect, Maria! I use the oven too. Not because I’m particularly afraid to use the torch but because I think the oven does a better work in terms of crust thickness. Love the tip about the double sugar layer. I’ll try next time I make it. Thank you! 😀
Thank you Francesca – the double layer works well as I like a thick layer and someone else likes a thin layer, so I can please all the people all the time!!
My goodness Maria – I’m glad you listened to your heart! And also glad you had the ordering mix-up. Creme brulee is my favourite dessert but I’ve never actually made it. I’m very good at ordering it though. And I’d travel all the way across the ocean to eat yours! I was almost tempted to try making it when I looked at your photographs but then I took note of the fact that i’m not to stick my fingers in the hot sugar (OUCH!) and if I needed any more encouragement NOT to make it – I got it. Mine would never look like yours anyway. I’m far too slap dash in the kitchen. Beautiful work. As always.
You are too kind!! Seriously yours would look just as good and you would put a wonderful twist to it. Glad you got the message not to put your fingers in the hot sugar I wasn’t sure if managed to convey that clearly enough!!! : )