creme brulee

Get excited, people! I don't think I'll go all-out on the spelling again, but today it's...crème brûlée! Finally, a way to put all of those yolks from your angel food cake to work!

This tasty treat is actually not as hard or intimidating as it might seem, it was actually pretty straight forward. I based my version on another one from Alton Brown at the Food Network, but because I was too cheap/lazy for some of the ingredients, and had some other ones laying around instead, I did a few swaps. Ready? Here goes...

Amaretto Creme Brulee
Makes 6 medium-to-large ramekins/servings
Ingredients:
1 litre heavy cream (I used 18%)
2 tsp. good vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling and burning
6 large egg yolks
2-3 oz. Amaretto (You could probably skip this, but I had a bottle of Disaronno laying around and went for it)
Some hot tap water - not really an ingredient, so much as an accessory, I guess

Preheat the oven to oven to 325˚ F. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream and vanilla extract to a boil. Once it's nice and hot, cover it and remove from heat. Let it sit aside for about 15 minutes to cool, because you really don't want scrambled egg yolks.

In a medium bowl, whisk together your egg yolks and sugar until it's blended, and the colour of the yolks starts to lighten. I used free range country-fied eggs, so the yolks are practically orange; the colour you end up with will depend on the type of eggs you use.

Once this mixture is starting to lighten, it's time to add the booze. Keep whisking away while you add up to three shots (yes, I measured with a shot glass) of amaretto, or another tasty liquer. This part is totally optional, but it adds a nice bit of flavour to the brulees, so why not experiment a bit?

You're probably still waiting patiently for the cream to cool, so now's a good time to get your pans and ramekins ready. Get out a big roasting pan, cake pan, whatever will fit your ramekins inside without them touching. I had to use two 8x10 (I think) cake pans. Get creative. Place your ramekins inside your McGyvered pans, and then pour hot water into the pans until it goes halfway up the side of the ramekins. I probably used about 3 cups in each, but it will depend on the size of the pans and ramekins that you use. And that's your pans, prepped.

By now, your cream has probably been cooling for long enough. Add it, very slowly, to the egg mixture, whisking constantly to avoid those scrambled eggs I mentioned. Once it's all combined (don't worry, it'll be a bit frothy), pour the mixture evenly, through a strainer, into your six ramekins.

Pop those suckers into the oven, and bake them for about 45 minutes, until they're set but still a bit wobbly in the middle. Carefully take them out of the pan(s), let them cool at room temperature for a bit, and then refrigerate them until they're cooled. If you cover them, they'll keep for up to three days. (The Boy and I had them for dessert three nights in a row!! We felt pretty fancy.)

When you're ready to eat them (and they're ready to be eaten), it's time for the fun part. First, sprinkle the tops with sugar, so there's a decent coating of it - this is what makes the "crust" and you want it to be thick enough. Now's the time for a bit of "do as I say, not as I do" - you'll notice in the photo I used some white sugar and some brown sugar. I heard/read that this was a good idea. Please, don't. Just go for plain white sugar. The black stuff? Burnt right up, and turned to coal or something. Ew. Not wanting to waste a dessert, I scraped it off and kept right on going, but learn from my mistakes, okay?

Of course, I'm too broke (cheap) to get a torch and do them properly, so I had to rely on my trusty broiler in my oven. The Boy just had his cold/raw. Yes, raw. If you do them properly (with a torch), let them sit out for about 5 minutes, just so you're not going too swiftly from cold to hot. If you're broiling them, leave them in the fridge until the grill is preheated, then pop them in on the top rack. Either way, toast the tops of your brulees until they're nice and caramelized/burnt. Mmm!

If you went the broiler route, the custard will be a bit warmed as well, so you may want to pop it back into the fridge for a bit, to avoid third degree burns. Once you're safe from possible injury, dig in and enjoy!

We had ours with fresh strawberries, and they were delicious! Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

And, as a sidenote - it's Easter weekend, so of course I'll be making some kind of cupcakes to celebrate. Keep an eye out tomorrow or Monday for those!
c.