Creme Brulee

     It has been a while since I last blogged but I have two good reasons:  1-I have been travelling to places near and far, namely Oʻahu and a weekʻs worth of luxury and love (of the doing nothing sort) in Tahiti and Moʻorea. Wait. There is one more reason: my son, Kalena, has since "moved" back in and has subsequently taken over the dinner duties, and gladly I might add. Case in point: I was taking out some frozen cod fillets, he took one look at it and said, "Ooh, I want to make dinner tonight with that!" Go to it, Son, go to it.

     No one can go to Tahiti without bringing back some of their delicious Tahitian vanilla beans so with that in hand I had to do creme brulee for tonightʻs dessert. Itʻs the least I could do. 

      This Creme Brulee recipe comes from my favorite Food Network star, Ina Garten. I love Ina. 
Ingredients

• 4 extra-large egg yolks
• 1 extra large egg
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for each serving
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (as a substitute for this I split one vanilla bean and put that in the milk as it was scalding. Then I had to strain the cream before pouring it into the egg mixture)
• 1 tablespoon orange liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier. I didnt have any so I substituted Brandy)

Directions

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. If you are going to use a vanilla bean, split the bean, scrape the inside and add it to the milk as it scalds. Keep stirring. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cream to the eggs. Add the vanilla extract (if you didnt use a bean) 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.

Verdict

It was smooth. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, even Kika who isnt a big custard fan but loves the crunchy sugar topping. I think straining it is a good idea, maybe even better if it is strained before poured into the ramekins.