The Floured Apron

There’s a fairly lengthy list of foods I want to make but am too intimidated to try. Canela & Comino’s post about her list of food to make, regardless of the fear factor, inspired me to cross number one off my list: creme brulee. John and I got hooked on creme brulee at our favorite restaurant last summer. With my sweet tooth, that isn’t saying much, but I can count on one hand the number of times that John has ordered dessert. I’ve wanted to make it at home ever since, but there’s the custard! and the brulee-ing! and I don’t have a torch! and it all looks so complicated! So I haven’t, until now.

The hardest part was deciding which recipe to use. I searched at both Food Network and Epicurious and finally decided on a Barefoot Contessa recipe. After all, Ina hasn’t failed me yet, and decadent desserts are sort of her thing. Looking back, I’m not sure I made the right choice. What I really wanted (but didn’t realize I wanted until after I made it) was a strong vanilla flavor, and this one was flavored with orange liqueur. But that just gives me an excuse to do it again.

Most of the recipe was pretty easy. The mixer does most of the work and I just had to add things at the right time. Hardly a difficult job. The custards came out of the oven looking lovely, and my fear of custard was conquered. But the part I was dreading was the sugar top. Not having a torch, I had to do it under the broiler.

The main reason I was concerned about using the broiler is that I’m not actually sure my ramekins are broiler safe. I know my Corningware set isn’t (sidenote: When World Kitchen bought Corningware, they reformulated the material so it isn’t broiler safe anymore. One more reason why passed-down cookware is better than brand-new), and I’m not sure about my other set, made by Progressive. So I just barely caramelized the sugar on top, while keeping my fingers crossed that nothing would explode. Unfortunately, the broiler heated up the entire custard, but on the plus side, nothing broke. My next kitchen purchase? Definitely going to be a torch.

I’ll be honest: this wasn’t as good as what I would get at a restaurant. But it was pretty delicious. A mediocre creme brulee is still creme brulee, after all. I don’t think it had anything to do with the recipe, it was just my inexperience and lack of a torch. And since practice (and the right tools) makes perfect, I suppose I’ll just have to start making creme brulee more frequently. I don’t think I’ll hear any complaints about that.

Creme Brulee

adapted from the Barefoot Contessa, Barefoot in Paris

Time: 1 hour (15 minutes active) plus time for the custards to cool

Yield: Depending on the size of your ramekins, 6-8 servings

Ingredients

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Scald the cream until it is very hot, but not quite boiled. Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of sugar together on low speed until just combined. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cream to the eggs. Add the vanilla and orange liqueur and pour into 6 to 8-ounce ramekins until almost full.

Put the ramekins in a baking pan and pour boiling water into the pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custards are set when gently shaken. Remove the custards to a cooling rack, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until firm.

To serve, lightly cover the top of the custard with sugar. If you are a sane person, use a kitchen blowtorch to caramelize the sugar. If you like to torture yourself, put them under the broiler and bite your nails until the sugar caramelizes. Allow the sugar to harden and enjoy!

Blah blah blah, torches are dangerous, be careful, blah blah blah.