Creme Brulee

I have a confession.  I am in love with Creme Brulee!  I love to order it at restaurants for dessert.  The day I realized I could make it at home was a blessed day!  I was in Target, many years ago, the day after Valentines Day, and there was a lot of Valentines stuff on clearance.  One of the shelves had a few "Creme Brulee Kits" complete with a couple of ramekins and a kitchen torch!  I grabbed it!  I was so very excited!  

Here we are about 10 years later.  I am on my third torch, and I make its several times a year including on Valentine's Day.  My children are spoiled.  I never had creme brulee before I was an adult.

When Gourmet Club first started my partner Alyssa and I knew we had to do creme brulee for a dessert at some point.  Lucky for us, two years in we decided on the Titanic as our theme, and creme brulee was served on the last night before the ship sunk.  For all the party details and recipes click HERE.

If you need a torch, I have bought my last two Butane kitchen torches at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  BB&B also carries butane for refilling.

**If you do not have a kitchen torch look below for an alternate option.

I always at double or triple this for my family.  This recipe only makes 4 smaller puddings.  For gourmet club I quadrupled it.

Ingredients

2 cups half and half         

5 egg yolks, beaten                                                                                                    
⅓ cup sugar  

1 tsp. Vanilla extract   

⅛ tsp salt    

¼ cup sugar for topping

Heat half and half in saucepan till slightly foamy/bubbly.  In a separate bowl combine egg yolks, ⅓ cup sugar, vanilla and salt.  Slowly add half and half to eggs, while mixing.  Be careful not to curdle eggs.

Pour evenly into ramekins placed in a large baking dish.  Bake in a water bath (pour water in and around the ramekins in the baking dish) at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Chill for at least an hour.  Sprinkle a couple tsp of sugar evenly over the top and fire with a kitchen butane torch till caramelized.

**If you do not have a torch - Lay a single, solid layer of white sugar in a hot frying pan.  DO NOT STIR.  Wait for it to caramelize, watching carefully.  As soon as it turns brown, drizzle of the tops of the creme brulee’s in a as light a layer as possible.