Cooking Lesson #417: Valentine Creme Brûlée ♥

…from the California Kitchen

How you doin’? Here are a pair of recipes designed to win the heart of your favorite Valentine again (or maybe just for the first time). Many people are playing it safe and making their Valentine dinner at home again this year. We have been hearing more about people loving couple’s cooking where both people take a part in making dinner. What could be more fun that having a blast cooking together?! Here are two great Creme Brûlée recipes that are pretty failure-proof to make and bring a little more love to your favorite lover’s holiday.
 
Where did creme brûlée originate? Well, as usual it isn’t an easy timeline to figure out.  France, England and Spain all lay claim to be the country where crème brûlée had its debut. The first printed recipe for a dessert called crème brûlée is from the 1691 edition of the French cookbook Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois by Francois Massialot, a chef at the Palace of Versailles. Some of the confusion maybe in the different names countries placed on similar dishes. Crème brûlée may also be known as burnt cream or trinity cream and are virtually identical to the original crema Catalana. They are all desserts consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar.
 
For a different presentation you can turn the ramekin out and serve the custard with shards of sugar over mangos sprinkled with rum or strawberries with Grand Marnier.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  30 minutes
Set & cool time:  2 hours
Yield:  6 servings
 
Ingredients 
6 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond or orange extract
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 300⁰ F.
2. Fill a roasting pan about half full of water and place in the oven.
3. Butter 6 oven-safe ramekins.
4. Beat the egg yolks with 4 tablespoons of the granulated sugar and the vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy, about 5-minutes.
5. Pour the cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil.
6.  Remove the cream from heat immediately; cool slightly so as not to scramble the eggs in the next step.
7. Stir a little of the warm cream into the egg yolk mixture; add a little more and stir well, and then add the rest. Beat until well combined.
8. Simmer water in the bottom of a double-boiler. Pour the combined cream mixture into the top of the double boiler and stir until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon, about 3 to 5 minutes.
9. Remove the mixture from the heat immediately and pour into the prepared ramekins.
10. Carefully place the ramekins into the water bath and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
11.  Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
12. Cool the custards for an hour and then refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
13. When ready to serve, preheat an oven to Broil on High.
14. In a mixing small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons of white sugar and the brown sugar.
15. Sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over custards.
16. Place the sugar-topped dishes under the broiler until the sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn the sugar (see ChefSecret for more information).
17. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
18. Refrigerate until custard is set again and the sugar has crisped.

 
Cheater Vanilla Creme Brûlée
 
This recipe is for those who don’t want to go the trouble of making their own custard—not that it’s all that hard. The secret ingredient in this recipe is to substitute vanilla ice cream instead of all the other ingredients required up above. My smooth, creamy, restaurant-quality creme brûlée only requires 3 ingredients! By the way, I even use melted vanilla ice cream for a great crème anglaise when I am pinched for time.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  40 to 50 minutes
Set & cool time:  2 hours
Yield:  2 servings
 
Ingredients 
1 cup high-quality vanilla ice cream
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 325°F.
2. Fill a small roasting pan about half full of water and place in the oven.
3. Butter 2 oven-safe ramekins.
4. In a microwave-safe bowl, pulse the ice cream in 20 second intervals, stirring between, until melted.
5. Let the melted ice cream cool for 5 minutes.
6. Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, until the mixture is smooth and consistent.
7. Pour evenly into the prepared ramekins.
8. Move the ramekins to the roasting pan.
9. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until set but still a little jiggly in the center.
10. Allow to cool completely, then wrap with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
11. When ready to serve, let the ramekins come to room temperature for 30 minutes, then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over each creme brûlée.
12. Broil on high on the top rack of the oven for 2-3 minutes until bubbly and browning watching to make the sugar doesn’t burn.
13. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
14. Refrigerate until custard is set again and the sugar has crisped.

ChefSecret:  If you have a kitchen blow torch, gently torch the sugar until golden and bubbly.

Quip of the Day: “Everything French is really amazing, especially creme brûlée, but then again, anything with a little cream and burnt sugar works for me.”
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America.

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