Creme Brulee Recipe Anna Olson Food

CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes.
• Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of the sugar together on low speed until just combined. Meanwhile, scald the cream in a small saucepan until it's very hot to the touch but not boiled. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cream to the eggs. Add the vanilla and orange liqueur and pour into 6 to 8-ounce ramekins until almost full.
• Place the ramekins in a baking pan and carefully pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custards are set when gently shaken. Remove the custards from the water bath, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until firm.
• To serve, spread 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly on the top of each ramekin and heat with a kitchen blowtorch until the sugar carmelizes evenly. Allow to sit at room temperature for a minute until the caramelized sugar hardens.

THYME CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a heavy bottomed pot bring cream just to the boil. Remove from heat, and add thyme and let sit for several minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl. Place the mixing bowl on top of a towel to keep it from wobbling while whisking in hot liquid. Gently whisk 1/3 of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, to temper the yolks and prevent lumps take care not to make an excessive amount of bubbles. While gently whisking, slowly pour the remainder of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture. With a spoon, skim off any bubbles that may have come to the surface.
• Evenly space the ramekins on a paper towel-lined baking dish to prevent ramekins from sliding. Fill each ramekin to just below the top. Place on the extended middle rack of the oven. Carefully pour hot tap water into the baking dish until 3/4 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to get any water on the custard mixture. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and very gently slide it towards the center of the rack. Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven. Uncover and let the custards cool in the water bath until they are cool enough to handle. Remove. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (see Cook's Note**).
• Evenly top each custard with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar. Burn the sugar with a blowtorch or hot branding iron. It is important that the sugar layer is thick enough and goes all the way to the edge of the ramekin; any exposed custard can burn and curdle. Serve shortly after burning the sugar so that the burnt sugar doesn't soften.

BAKED APPLE CRèME BRûLéE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Peel the apples about halfway down. Use a melon baller to scoop out the core of each apple (take care not to break through the bottom of the apples) and use the melon baller to scoop out extra apple flesh to make room for the custard, leaving a wall of apple about ¾-inch thick. Place the apples in a baking dish.
• Whisk the sour cream, egg yolks, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg together and pour this into each apple, so that it comes up to the top but without spilling (you may have a little extra filling left, depending on how big your apples are). Pour boiling water around the apples to just come up a ½-inch and then loosely cover the dish with foil. You can insert toothpicks into the apples, if needed, in order to keep the foil from touching the custard.
• Bake the apples for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for about another 10 minutes, until the custard is just set. Cool the apples in the pan, then remove to a plate to chill until set, at least 3 hours. A little juice may come out of the apples as they chill.
• To finish, place the apples on a cooling rack placed over a parchment-lined baking tray. Bring the granulated sugar, lemon juice and 3 Tbsp of water up to a boil over high heat. Continue to boil the sugar, without stirring and occasionally brushing the sides of the pot with water, until the sugar is an amber colour. Remove the pot from the heat and carefully spoon the hot sugar over the apples so that they are evenly and fully coated with a thin layer of the caramelized sugar. Let the sugar set for about 10 minutes, and then lift the apples to a plate to serve.
• The apples should ideally be served after the sugar has set, but this step can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead. The apples themselves can be made a day ahead and stored refrigerated.