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Crème Brûlée II

| Dessert This recipe for crème brûlée should provide a crackly crust over a cold custard, balanced in sweetness, egg, and cream content. Few can resist its light, silky texture.

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France

Known as a French recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

Ingredients 16 ingredients

  1. {| class="wikitable" style="background: none;color:inherit;"
  2. !Ingredient
  3. !Count
  4. !Volume
  5. !Weight
  6. |Granulated white sugar
  7. |¾ cup (178 ml)
  8. |Salt
  9. |¾ tsp (3.5 ml)
  10. |Vanilla extract
  11. |1½ tsp (8 ml)
  12. |Egg yolks
  13. |12 ea.
  14. |Heavy cream
  15. |3 pints (1.4 liters)
  16. |1.4 kg

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
  • Grill and open flame. Keep sleeves, hair and tea towels away from the flame, and stay with the grill while it's lit. Barbecue outdoors only, never in a closed space.
  • Hot sugar. Hot sugar sticks to skin and burns far hotter than boiling water: don't touch or taste it. Keep a bowl of cold water close, and keep children away while it cooks.

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Before doing so, place a large flat pan with sides on the middle shelf and fill it with ¾–1 inch (2–2.5 cm) of water.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg yolks.
  3. In a saucepan, heat the cream until it is piping hot (stir constantly), but be careful to not let it boil.
  4. Slowly (about 1 cup a time) pour the hot cream into the mixing bowl with the other ingredients, while whisking briskly. If you add the cream too quickly, it will cook the eggs.
  5. After all the ingredients are well-mixed, pour the mixture into eight individual ramekins.
  6. Place the ramekins in the water bath in the oven, and bake until set (like Jell-O). The time depends on the size and depth of the dishes you use, as well as the material of which they're made. Usually, the time ranges from 25 to 50 minutes.
  7. Remove the dishes from the oven and allow them to cool. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready for serving.
  8. When ready to serve, remove the ramekins from the refrigerator and place them on a fire-proof surface. Sprinkle a moderately thin coating of granulated white sugar on the top of each custard.
  9. Using a propane blow-torch, carefully melt the sugar topping so that it forms a solid caramel sheet. Take care to not burn the sugar or the custard beneath it. It is very important that this step not be done with an oven, toaster oven, broiler rack, etc., as doing so will invariably cause the custard to overheat and dry out or burn before the sugar layer on top is properly melted.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
  • Grill or grill pan
  • Baking dish
  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk
  • Wooden spoon
Source CC-BY-SA-4.0
Credit

"Crème Brûlée II" from the Wikibooks Cookbook (https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Cr%C3%A8me_Br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e_II, revision 4658457), by its contributors (https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Cookbook:Cr%C3%A8me_Br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e_II&action=history), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Revision 4658457

What was changed: Reformatted by Food DataSilos from the wiki page: ingredients and steps extracted, links and templates removed. This adaptation is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.