I wasn't sure I was was going to get around to making it this weekend but dreaming about work woke me up early, so I had plenty of time to steep a vanilla bean and seeds into some cream while setting up the rest of the recipe.
Egg yolks are whisked into sugar and a bit of salt and then the mixture is tempered with the still hot cream before being strained into a clean container.
According to the book, the recipe yields 4 servings but a half a cup of cream per serving seemed a bit much to me, so I poured the cream and egg mixture into 8 smaller containers. The custard is baked in a bain-marie in the oven until the edges are set and the center still soft.
The custards need to cool, then chill for 4 hours before sugar is added to the top of them, and melted with a blow torch. Usually, white granulated sugar is used to make the glass-like top of the crème brûlée but in this case, dark brown sugar is used to give it a more pronounced caramel flavour. Brown sugar does not spread as nicely as white sugar, so I had a hard time melting the sugar evenly since it was bumpy.
I thought the crème brulée had the perfect texture with a nice crunchy top. And it looked so cute in the little teacups! Loved it!
For the recipe, and to see how my fellow bakers enjoyed this recipe, click on through to the Baked Sunday Mornings blog!
Love, love, love your little teacups! What a wonderful presentation! The brown sugar was difficult to spread and caramelize. I did two with the brown sugar and two with raw sugar (which worked better).
ReplyDeleteLove it in the teacups! So cute.
ReplyDeleteI just adore those teacups! I didn't think you could put those in the oven-- or are they actually baking vessels *shaped* like cups? At any rate, they look so perfect and dainty. Beautiful little crèmes brûlées! :)
ReplyDeleteThey're little silicone molds. They're fine in the oven, but i was careful while using the kitchen torch, so I wouldn't touch the flame to the silicone.
DeleteMy brown sugar was so clumpy so I didn't get a nice caramelization either. Still tasted great though!
ReplyDelete