Crème Brûlée

A few weeks ago I was lying on the sofa watching some film or other when Joey burst through the door with his customary salutation. 

“Hey Granny,” he chirped, standing with his hands on his hips and fixing me with a gimlet stare. 

“Have you heard of this pudding, I don’t know what it’s called but it’s yellow?”

“Let me think,” I replied, “might it be crème brûlée?”

“That’s the one Granny. Wow, you know what it is!” he exclaimed in amazement. 

Of course I know what crème brûlée is, it has been my go to dessert in many a restaurant throughout the years. I love the rich, creamy, custardness that lies beneath a slightly charred, crunchy topping, which shatters like glass as you break into it with your spoon. What isn’t there to like? However, I have never tried to make it before, believing it to be a difficult task.

But back to Joey and his crème brûlée. Since I make puddings on a Sunday when they come round for dinner, he figured, maybe we could have crème brûlée on the following Sunday. Hmmmm. I took Joey’s request as a little challenge. He obviously wanted to try this pudding so maybe now was the time to bite the bullet. I decided I would surprise him and make it for the upcoming Sunday. I took to the recipe sites and found that it is, after all,  just a simple custard with a melted sugar topping, and there are very few variations, the only ones being for sticking stuff like fruit under the custard. In the end I chose the River Cottage Foolproof Crème Brûlée recipe. Most of the recipes you see online or in magazines and recipe books seem to involve tools better suited to Paul’s workshop than a kitchen. Nor did I think the industrial sized thing Paul has in the garage would be suitable substitute for a cooks blowtorch. I’d probably end up with six charred lumps and the laminate peeling off the worktop! This recipe said it was OK to put the brûlée under the grill to caramelise the sugar topping instead. Maybe the blowtorch thing is just an affect used by mediocre TV chefs to make them look more dynamic. 

Not wanting to use up all our newly laid eggs in case it all went pear shaped I sent Paul out for cheapo eggs, cream and vanilla pods. Ah, vanilla pods. I’ve never used them before, they’re not what I expected. I always imagined the seeds would be the size of sweet pea seeds, not the minuscule powdery things they are. I live and learn. 

Bearing in mind that I had to chill the custard, twice, I set to making the custard which I poured into my newly purchased ramekins, bought especially for today. I had to use two roasting tins to fit in all the ramekins. Ever the impatient cook I set the kitchen timer and made myself walk away from the oven, otherwise I’d be peering in every few minutes. In the end the custard came out perfectly wobbly. After it’s first stint in the fridge I added the sugar, a little too much perhaps, and bunged the lot under the grill until the sugar was bubbling and in danger of igniting. After wafting away the thick smoke emanating from the grill I set the crème brûlées to cool and chill once more before serving. I was well chuffed with my first attempt, my crème brûlée had a perfect brittle topping just waiting to be cracked open to expose a rich, velvety custard beneath. Joey’s eyes lit up as I gave him the first serving. 

“Hey Granny, that was awesome!” he said, as he licked his dish clean. 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C
2. Pour the cream into a saucepan.
3. Split the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds and add them and the pod to the cream and set aside
4. In a mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until fluffy. You can use an electric whisk if you prefer. 
5. Warm the cream over a medium heat, removing when tiny bubbles appear around the edge of the pan. 
6. Remove the vanilla pod and pour the warm cream over the egg yolks and whisk to make a custard.
7. Strain into a jug through a fine sieve and pour custard into 6 ramekins.
8. Stand the ramekins in a roasting dish filled with enough hot water to come halfway up their sides. 
9. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the custard is just set. It should still wobble like a jelly when you shake the dish.
10. Allow to cool slightly before placing in fridge to chill. 
11. Once chilled sprinkle a layer of brown sugar over each custard. 
12. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and melt the sugar under a very hot grill. 
13. Once the sugar has caramelised remove from heat and allow to cool before chilling until ready to serve.