Tiny Creme Brulees Food

THE BEST CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees F. Line a large heavy roasting pan (a turkey roasting pan works great) with a clean kitchen towel and place 4 six-ounce ramekins on top of the towel spaced a few inches apart.
• Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Using the back of a paring knife, scrape the vanilla seeds from both halves of the pod. Add the seeds and pod to the cream. Whisk in the salt and 3 tablespoons of the sugar and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
• Vigorously whisk the yolks and 3 more tablespoons of the sugar in a large bowl until pale yellow and very thick and creamy, about 2 minutes. Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer on high speed and beat until pale yellow and very thick and creamy, about 1 minute.
• Whisking the yolks constantly, add a couple of teaspoons at a time from 1 cup of the hot cream, then increase to a steady stream until the cream is fully incorporated. (Don't pour too much hot cream at once or you'll end up with scrambled eggs.) The yolks are now tempered. Whisk the tempered yolks back into the remaining hot cream until combined. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup or medium pitcher for easier pouring; discard the vanilla pods.
• Skim the foam off the top of the custard by placing a clean paper towel on top and lightly pressing down so it touches the surface and absorbs some of the liquid. This will make for a completely smooth and silky custard. Fill the ramekins with the custard, about 3/4 cup per ramekin.
• Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins without getting any water in the custard. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake until the custard is set around the edges but still has a slight jiggle in the center, 35 to 45 minutes. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven and transfer the ramekins to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. Then refrigerate until very cold, about 3 hours.
• Just before serving, evenly spread 1 tablespoon of the sugar over the top of a custard. Hold a kitchen torch 2 inches above the surface. Starting in the center of the ramekin, move the flame in a circular motion and work your way out to the edges to caramelize the sugar. Repeat with the remaining sugar and custards.
• Alternatively, arrange a rack in the top position of the oven and heat the broiler on high. Place the ramekins on a rack set inside a baking sheet and broil until deep golden brown, 15 to 60 seconds, checking every 10 seconds.
• Freeze the custards for 5 minutes before serving (see Cook's Note).

COWBOY CREME BRULEES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Pour the cream into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Scrape the vanilla caviar (seeds) from the vanilla bean and add it to the cream. Bring almost to the boil, then turn off the heat.
• Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and add the sugar. With a whisk, mix the eggs and sugar together like crazy until they are a very pale yellow, about 4 minutes.
• Place a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Pour the hot cream into the bowl through the strainer to remove any skin or impurities in the cream.
• Slowly drizzle 1/2 cup of the hot cream into the egg/sugar mixture while whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking. Continue adding the rest of the hot cream to the bowl very slowly, whisking constantly until fully incorporated. You can add the cream a little more rapidly as the mixture warms; touch the side of the bowl to gauge the mixture's temperature. Gently stir in the lemon zest.
• Arrange 4 shallow ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Ladle the mixture into the ramekins until they are roughly three-quarters of the way full. Carefully place the baking sheet in the oven. With the rack slightly pulled out, gently pour hot water into the baking sheet until it reaches two-thirds of the way up the outside of the ramekins.
• Bake until the custard is set but not brown on the top, roughly 22 minutes. Watch closely as these can brown very quickly toward the end. Allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet.
• Refrigerate the custard-filled ramekins, covered, for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• When you are ready to serve, sprinkle each of the custards generously with superfine sugar. Using a kitchen torch, crisp the sugar until it is light brown and just bubbling; a back and forth motion works best. Be sure to work quickly to avoid cooking the custard below. This step can be done within an hour of serving. Garnish each custard with Black and Blue Berries.
• Put 1/2 cup each of the blackberries and blueberries in a saucepan and add the sugar, blackberry jam, honey, lemon zest, vanilla extract and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Using a potato masher, mash the berries gently until they are good and broken up.
• Add the remaining 2 cups each blackberries and blueberries to a mixing bowl. Pour the warm berry mixture over the fresh berries and fold everything together with a spatula until well coated. Allow everything to cool 10 minutes or so before serving. Serve atop your favorite dessert.

ULTIMATE CRèME BRûLéE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Sit four 175ml ramekins in a deep roasting tin at least 7.5cm deep (or a large deep cake tin), one that will enable a baking tray to sit well above the ramekins when laid across the top of the tin.
• Pour the large and small cartons of double cream into a medium pan with the milk.
• Lay the vanilla pod on a board and slice lengthways through the middle with a sharp knife to split it in two. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out all the tiny seeds into the cream mixture. Drop the vanilla pod in as well, and set aside.
• Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk for 1 min with an electric hand whisk until paler in colour and a bit fluffy.
• Put the pan with the cream on a medium heat and bring almost to the boil. As soon as you see bubbles appear round the edge, take the pan off the heat.
• Pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a wire whisk as you do so, and scraping out the seeds from the pan.
• Set a fine sieve over a large wide jug or bowl and pour the hot mixture through to strain it, encouraging any stray vanilla seeds through at the end.
• Using a big spoon, scoop off all the pale foam that is sitting on the top of the liquid (this will be several spoonfuls) and discard. Give the mixture a stir.
• Pour in enough hot water (from the tap) into the roasting tin to come about 1.5cm up the sides of the ramekins. Pour the hot cream into the ramekins so you fill them up right to the top - it's easier to spoon in the last little bit.
• Put them in the oven and lay a baking sheet over the top of the tin so it sits well above the ramekins and completely covers them, but not the whole tin, leaving a small gap at one side to allow air to circulate.
• Bake for 30-35 mins until the mixture is softly set. To check, gently sway the roasting tin and if the crème brûlées are ready, they will wobble a bit like a jelly in the middle. Don't let them get too firm.
• Lift the ramekins out of the roasting tin with oven gloves and set them on a wire rack to cool for a couple of minutes only, then put in the fridge to cool completely. This can be done overnight without affecting the texture.
• When ready to serve, wipe round the top edge of the dishes, sprinkle 1½ tsp of caster sugar over each ramekin and spread it out with the back of a spoon to completely cover.
• Spray with a little water using a fine spray (the sort you buy in a craft shop) to just dampen the sugar - then use a blow torch to caramelise it. Hold the flame just above the sugar and keep moving it round and round until caramelised. Serve when the brûlée is firm, or within an hour or two.