- Hey guys.
So recently I have been getting a lot of requests
for homemade creme brulee.
And I think that is an excellent idea
because creme brulee is one of the most delicious desserts,
and it's actually pretty easy to make as well.
But the thing with creme brulee
that people can get intimidated by is the kitchen torch.
So a lot of recipes at the end will call for using
one of those little hand held kitchen torches.
Now even myself, who loves a kitchen gadget
more than anybody, is intimidated by those things.
I'm always afraid I'm gonna burn my house down with them.
So after experimenting
with a couple of different techniques,
I have come up with the perfect way to make
a homemade creme brulee without the need
for one of those intimidating kitchen torches.
Here's what you do.
In a sauce pan you're going to combine
some heavy cream and the seeds of one vanilla bean.
Now I also like to throw in the pod as well,
just because as that cream comes up to a simmer,
you wanna infuse it with all of those
beautiful vanilla flavors.
And there's even more flavor in the pod as well,
so you might as well throw that in.
Now meanwhile, in a heat safe bowl,
you're going to combine six egg yolks,
a little bit of sugar, and a pinch of salt.
I always like to add a little bit of salt
into the desserts I make.
Salt is just a natural flavor enhancer,
so any flavors that you have,
like the vanilla bean and the sugar,
are just gonna become all the more amplified
by the help of a little bit of salt.
At this point your cream is probably done.
You're gonna go in and just fish out the pod,
and then slowly pour the cream into the egg mixture,
whisking all the while.
You just wanna do it slowly, a little bit at a time,
so that you don't scramble those eggs.
Because remember, the cream is hot
and your eggs are room temperature.
The slower you go, the better.
Now here is a really important tip with creme brulee.
You wanna make sure that that custard
is as smooth and creamy as possible.
And the best way to assure that
is to strain your mixture.
So over another large, heat safe bowl,
you're gonna put a fine mesh sieve.
You're then gonna pour your egg mixture over the sieve.
And then you will see after you do that
you'll be surprised what you catch in that sieve.
You'll have large pieces of vanilla bean,
you may have a few little scrambled egg pieces
here and there.
So it's definitely a good step to do.
Now let's talk ramekins.
This is really tip number two.
I love to have a ramekin with a low profile,
especially when you're trying to make
homemade creme brulee without the need for a kitchen torch.
And the reason is twofold.
One, a low profile ramekin is going to allow
for your custard to get closer
to your oven's heating implement.
The closer it can get,
the more caramelization you're going to get
on your creme brulee.
The second reason why I like this ramekin
is that it has a wider diameter,
about five inches to it.
I don't know about you,
but for me the best part of the creme brulee
is that caramelized sugar on top.
So the wider the ramekin,
the more surface crust you're gonna get
on your creme brulee.
So if you'd like to know where to find ramekins
that are similar to mine,
I've put a link in the description
to where you can find low profile ramekins online.
You're gonna ladle out your egg mixture
into your ramekins,
and transfer them to a large roasting pan.
At that point you wanna walk over to your oven,
open the oven door, and pull out the rack.
You then wanna take your roasting pan,
place it on the rack,
and then you wanna fill about half an inch
up the side of the ramekin with hot, boiling water.
And the best way to do that is in the corner
of your roasting pan.
If you do it too close to the ramekins,
some of that hot water can splash into your custard,
and then it will not set,
and it makes a big mess.
So trust me, I've done this before,
and the best way to do it
is just in the corner of your roasting pan.
Then slowly push your rack into your oven.
Then you wanna bake for about 25 to 30 minutes,
just until those custards are set.
They'll still be a little bit jiggly,
and the tops will start to dry out.
That's when you know they're done.
And at this point you wanna refrigerate the custards.
Allow them to cool and then wrap each one
individually in foil.
Place it in your refrigerator for about an hour or two,
or even overnight.
Then when it's ready to serve,
here comes the fun part, the sugar.
Now I have done this experimentation three times
with three different types of sugar.
And here are the results.
I've tried white granulated sugar.
That does not work as well
because it doesn't caramelize.
It's too refined.
There isn't enough natural sugars in that sugar
for it to actually do much.
So I wouldn't use the white sugar.
The turbinado, or raw cane sugar,
is better, but again,
it's too coarse, and it doesn't really melt all the way.
You'll get some nice caramelization,
but it won't be as good.
And number three, the real winner, is brown sugar.
Brown sugar heats up really quickly,
it caramelizes beautifully,
and works in about 10 seconds.
The best thing you wanna do is just keep those
creme brulees under your heating implement
for the shortest amount of time possible,
because you don't wanna heat up that custard too much.
Otherwise you miss that warm, crackly sugar,
and that cool center.
So definitely go with the brown sugar.
Now the final step,
to really send this creme brulee over the edge,
is to serve it with a dollop of homemade whipped cream.
Now you guys have probably seen me make
homemade whipped cream
more times that you care to remember,
so I'll spare you the demo.
However, the recipe is in the description
for those of you who'd like to know how to make it.
So there you have it,
homemade creme brulee without the use
of those intimidating kitchen torches.
I hope you guys give this one a try.
Your guests will be blown away
at your next party if you present them
with homemade creme brulee.
I'll see you next week for another real time recipe
where we're gonna put dinner on the table
in 15 minutes or less.
I'll see you then.
(light guitar music)