Vanilla Crème Brûlée

PREPARATION Step 1 Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream, vanilla bean and salt and cook over low heat just until hot. Let sit for a few minutes, then discard vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, add it now.) Step 2 In a bowl, beat yolks and sugar together until light. Stir about a quarter of the cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir. Pour into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until centers are barely set. Cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours and up to a couple of days. Step 3 When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer. Place ramekins in a broiler 2 to 3 inches from heat source. Turn on broiler. Cook until sugar melts and browns or even blackens a bit, about 5 minutes. Serve within two hours.

Made for 5 servings, asked for 5/8 sugar, I did less maybe 3/8 cup ish. For 2.5 cups of cream I did 2 cups of cream and 0.5 cup of milk. Good this way, no more sugar needed but if you wanted you could do more milk to cream ratio. Did 1 tsp of vanilla, no more needed. Cooked 30 minutes, maybe could do a tad less. Did 25 degrees less because convection.

-1.5x the recipe (augmenting single vanilla bean with vanilla extract) yielding 8 (2 in angular non-ramekins which didn’t come out as perfectly) -went for about 35 minutes in oven (more for non-ramekins) -used torch but wasn’t able to fix butane securely into torch because need branded iwatani butane canister. There’s supposed to be more control over the flame. Closer and faster torching was better than faster and longer. We used brown sugar but next time try with fine regular sugar.

Delicious. Added extra vanilla. I made mine in a single 10 in Corningware pie baking dish and it turned out great.

can also generously fill two, 20 ounce ramekins!

Way too sweet. Use less sugar than it is in the recipe