Crème Brulee for Two
Scaled down recipe for creme brulee.
Servings 2
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons heavy cream
- 5 teaspoons of sugar (You can use a little more if you like)
- 2 large egg yolks
- ⅓ to ½ teaspoon of vanilla bean paste or good quality vanilla
- ⅓ teaspoon turbinado or Demerara sugar (brown sugar okay too)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F. Make sure the rack is in the lower third of the oven.
- Line an 8-inch square metal baking pan with a small dish rag. This is to prevent the ramekins from sliding. If you don't have a rag, you can skip this step and just be extra careful.
- Fill a teapot or a spouted saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Keep it hot on the stove until ready to use.
- In a 2-cup microwave-safe measuring cup, combine half of the cream with the sugar. Heat for about 20-40 seconds or just until the cream is very hot, then stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the remaining cold cream to the cream/sugar mixture.
- In a small bowl, whisk the two egg yolks with the vanilla, then gradually whisk in the cream/sugar mixture.
- Set two 4 or 5-ounce ramekins in the 8-inch square pan and position them so they're not touching.
- Pour enough very hot water into pan to reach about two-thirds up sides of ramekins. Carefully set in the preheated oven and bake until centers of custards are just barely set and register 175 F to 180F. This takes 50 minutes in my new oven, but check at 30-35 because some ovens take less time because the oven runs hot.
- Transfer ramekins to wire rack and let cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and chill until very cold (about 2 hours) or just slightly cold. You supposedly get a better caramelized shell with cool rather that super cold custard, but I haven't noticed a huge difference.
- Remove plastic and sprinkle tops with the turbinado sugar.
- Ignite torch and caramelize sugar. Return to the refrigerator for about ½ an hour to re-chill (I skip that) then serve. Makes 2 servings.
Notes
Use the best brand of whipping cream you can find. I've found that the ones labeled organic have a really good flavor and are worth spending a few extra cents on. Make sure to test the final temp with a thermometer, as it's now always so easy to judge when these are done. Also, I have on occasion filled the pan a little too high with water and have found that increases the overall bake time needed. Try to fill it no higher than ⅔
