Crème Brulee

Crème brulee, or "burnt creme," or crema catalana in Spain (Crème brûlée or crème brulée for Francophone purists) is one of those classic desserts that's both simple and elegant. My first experience with crème brulee was in England. I'd had, and enjoyed, and even made egg custard before, but my Scottish host had covered her egg custard with an egg-shell thin crust of slightly burned but very sweet crisp sugar. Each mouthful of the delicately flavored custard was accompanied with a crisp wafer of the sugar crust. It was wonderful. She offered to show me how to make it, and I took her up on the offer. If you already know how to make custard it is surprisingly easy, since the last step is simply to place the ramekins of custard under a broiler so that a thin layer of sugar sprinkled on the top melts slightly, then solidifies into a golden sugar shell.

I tried it on my own a week or so later, in my student lodgings. My student lodgings with the gas oven that needed to have the pilot light lit. I opened the door, struck a match, and was hit by what looked like a solid ball of flame. I jumped back, but still singed off my eyebrows and bangs. A few years later, on the advice of a friend, I tried using a torch to melt the sugar. I only lost one eyebrow that time. I now know a few tricks, which I'll pass on to you.

Crème brulee is, despite my own difficulties with conflagration, a fairly simply but impressive dessert to make. The essential ingredients are egg yolks (save the whites for meringue or something similar), sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream. You'll want individual custard dishes, or ramekins, usually, but it's quite possible to make it in a larger pyrex or ceramic dish—it's just more difficult to serve that way. Heat the cream and the vanilla extract just until it's about to simmer; when it starts steaming, shut off the heat.

While the cream is heating, add most of the sugar to the yolks (reserve some for the top of the custard), beating them thoroughly so that all the sugar is dissolved. Scrape the bowl carefully to be absolutely positive that the sugar is dissolved. The yolks should be smooth and thick. Keep an eye on the cream; it needs to be heated, but not scalded. Slowly add some of the cream—a half cup or so—to the yolk and sugar mixture, being sure to keep stirring it the whole time with a wire whisk. Adding some of the heated cream makes it less likely that you'll curdle the mixture. Once you've blended the cream thoroughly, slowly add the yolks, sugar, and cream mixture to the rest of the cream, whisking it all the while.

Once the yolks, flavoring, sugar, and cream are thoroughly mixed, slowly pour the custard into the individual serving dishes, making sure you don't completely fill the dishes. When you're ready to back the custard, place a pan in the pre-heated oven, then set the custard dishes in the pan. Pour hot (simmering) water into the pan, so that the water comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake according to the recipe's directions.

Using an oven mit, or kitchen tongs, gently jiggle one of the custard containers. If the edge is solid, but the rest jiggles like Jell-O, it's done. Take the custard out of the oven, and cool to room temperature. Chill the custard for at least a couple of hours before making the brulee sugar topping.

Before you serve, preferably not too long before, sprinkle the top of each custard with a thin, even layer of sugar. If you have a propane kitchen torch—one specifically designed for kitchen use and food prep—evenly heat the sugar with a low to medium flame, moving the torch steadily, until the sugar starts to brown. You want it to be an even golden brown, not burned. Otherwise, pre-heat your oven broiler, and broil the custards twenty or thirty seconds, no more. The ramekins need to be about an inch from the heat source.

Here are a few pieces of general advice.

• Don't add or subtract extra eggs in the custard recipe. Too many eggs makes the custard rigid; too few means it won't set correctly.
• A vanilla bean adds a lovely, more intense vanilla flavor than even vanilla extract. Split the bean down the middle, scrape out the pulp, and add it to the cream instead of the vanilla extract; toss in the pod as well, but remove it before you add the yolks.





• Pour the custard mixture through a wire mesh strainer to make sure there are no small lumps; it makes for a creamier custard.





• If possible, chill the custard overnight in the refrigerator before baking them.





• Sifted powdered sugar, "confectioner's sugar," makes the most delicate crust. Granulated table sugar or turbinado sugar also work well. If you use brown sugar, which has a lovely flavor, you need to dry it out a bit first; heat it in the oven in a baking tin at 300F. for five minutes or so, then sift it before you use it, to make sure there are no lumps.





• Keep a close eye on the custard while it's under the broiler; five seconds can make the difference between golden brown and a burned mess.

Here are a few recipes for you to try. First, a basic crème brulee with step-by-step pictures. Online Rouxbe Cooking school has a step-by-step cr&egave;me brulee video. Here's a stripped-down version that doesn't require you to heat the cream; that means that there's a slightly higher risk of salmonella, so do be sure to cook the custard throughly. Chef Michael McCarty, of Michael's Restaurant in Santa Monica shared his recipe for an innovative crème brulee in a pastry shell. And here is chef Alton Brown's crème brulee recipe. There are lots of variations, like Ginger crème brulee, among others.