Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée Recipe

While in France last month, I managed to eat crème brûlée every day for the entire 4 days there. Once my spoon tapped the top of its hard, crackly, caramelized shell, I was hooked. I immediately knew I had to recreate it back home.

Surprisingly, crème brûlée is made from simple ingredients like cream, hence crème brûlée, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Crème Brûlée translates to “burnt cream”, but really, it is the burnt sugar top that makes it popular. I made three variations of crème brûlée:  Vanilla bean, lavender honey, and orange peel. If you’re looking for a classic, go with vanilla bean, but if you feel adventurous, try lavender honey or orange peel. You won’t regret it.

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

6 large egg yolks

1/3 cup cane sugar

Turbinado sugar, for topping

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a heavy bottom pan over a medium-low heat, pour cream in with split vanilla bean and cook, stirring for about 15 minutes (do not boil).  Remove from heat.  In a bowl, using a hand held mixer, beat egg yolks about 3 minutes until a creamy yellow. Gradually pour in 1/3 cup of cane sugar and beat until sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes).  Next, remove vanilla bean from heated cream and discard. Ladle heated cream a little at a time into egg mixture while continuosly mixing on a medium-low speed so eggs do not cook. Continue this process until all of the cream is mixed in.

In a separate bowl, pour mixture into a fine sieve  to remove excess froth and bubbles. Pour into 6 small ramekins (I used ramekins and espresso demi cups) and place into a baking pan. Fill baking pan with warm water until it is about halfway up the outside of the ramekins then place into preheated oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until set (should be set around the edges, but jiggly in the middle).  Carefully remove from oven and let water cool for 20 minutes.  Remove ramekins and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Right before serving, remove from refrigerator, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of turbinado sugar evenly over custard, and using a small hand held kitchen torch, scorch sugar until it melts and caramelizes to  an amber brown. Top with fresh berries.