the french crème brûlée

First of all a special thought for all my friends and readers affected the the hurricane, 

I can't even imagine the disruption and difficulty getting over this

I wish you strength

Now that we are well into the cooler season here, desserts are less about fresh and fruity and more about comfort.  An all time favourite is the very french  crème brûlée.

Simple to make and chic to serve, I also love this recipe because it is served in individual portions. so easy to handle at a dinner.

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To make crème brûlée for 6 people, you will need

4 cups (1 L)  cream

1/3 cup (75 mL) sugar

10 yolks of large eggs

1 vanilla bean

Use these ingredients to make your custard.  Mix the egg yolks in a large bowl with the sugar, whisk well until the mixture pales slightly.  

Heat the cream, or full fat milk, in a pan with the vanilla pod split length ways.  You can scrape out the tiny black vanilla seeds if you wish to heighten the vanilla flavour.

Pour the cream into the egg and sugar mix, and blend thoroughly.  Pour this mix into individual creme moulds and bake in the oven, in a bain marie,  at 160C for 15 minutes.

You remove the crème from the oven when they are just set (no longer liquid), but still slightly wobbly.

Leave to cool then pop the crèmes into the fridge and leave them for about 4 hours.

Now comes the fun bit!  Just before you wish to serve the crèmes, sprinkle sugar in an even layer over the top of each crème then reach for your culinary blow torch.

I used to do this bit using the grill on the oven, but it's not ideal as it re-cooks the crèmes and they lose their very creamy quality.  If you like this recipe, you may choose to invest in a little chef's torch.

Once they are nicely golden and bubbly, carry to the table, wow your guests and sit back to   enjoy their wild applause.

pictures thanks to google images