Crème Brûlée

Crème brûlée is not a light dessert, whatever people say about custards. It is egg yolk and cream, and that is the point.

What makes it worth doing is the contrast — cold set custard under a sheet of glass-hard caramel that cracks under the spoon.

Serves 6
Chilling time: 4 hours minimum

Ingredients

5 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean

For the top

4 tablespoons superfine or granulated sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 250°F.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla until pale and smooth. Whisk rather than beat — you do not want air in this. Bubbles rise to the surface and set there, and the top needs to be flat.

Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan and heat until it is steaming and just about to simmer. Do not let it boil.

Temper the eggs: pour the hot cream into the yolks in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Going slowly here is what keeps the eggs from scrambling. If you dump it in, you get sweet scrambled egg.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. This catches any bits of cooked egg and any chalazae from the yolks, and it is the difference between a good custard and a perfect one.

Let it settle for a few minutes and skim off any foam from the surface.

Arrange six ramekins in a deep roasting pan and divide the custard between them.

Pour hot water into the pan until it comes about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Do not let it splash into the custard.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. They are done when the edges are set but the center still wobbles like loose jelly when you nudge the pan. They firm up as they cool — bake until the center is solid and you have overcooked them.

Lift the ramekins out of the water and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

To serve

Blot the surface dry with a paper towel if any condensation has formed.

Sprinkle an even, thin layer of sugar over the top. Tilt the ramekin to spread it and tip off the excess. Too thick and it will not caramelize evenly; it will just melt into a syrup.

Burn the sugar with a blowtorch, keeping the flame moving, until it is deep amber.

Serve within a few minutes. The caramel starts softening against the cold custard almost immediately, and that crack is what you came for.

Chef’s notes

If you have no torch, put the sugared ramekins under a very hot broiler on the top rack for 1 to 2 minutes. Watch them the entire time. Then chill for 10 minutes before serving to firm the custard back up.

A vanilla bean is worth the money here. Split it, scrape the seeds into the cream and let it infuse off the heat for 15 minutes before straining.