BETA
Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée
Silky, gently set vanilla custard baked in a water bath and chilled, then finished with a thin sheet of caramelised sugar that cracks under the spoon.
300 minutes · Medium · 6 servings
Original house recipe · Not yet kitchen-tested
Ingredients
- Heavy cream (35%)500 ml
- Vanilla bean (or 2 tsp vanilla bean paste)1 whole
- Egg yolks6 whole
- Granulated sugar75 g
- Salt1 pinch
- Granulated or demerara sugar, for the tops6 tbsp
Quantities describe recipe usage, not package sizes.
Allergen notes
Milk and egg.
Method
Infuse the cream
Heat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Put the cream, seeds and pod in a saucepan and heat until steaming with small bubbles at the edge. Turn off the heat, cover and leave for 15 minutes.
Mix the custard
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, 75 g sugar and salt for 1 minute, until pale. Remove the vanilla pod and reheat the cream until steaming, then pour it slowly onto the yolks, whisking constantly. Strain through a fine sieve into a jug and skim off any foam.
Bake in a water bath
Set 6 shallow ramekins (about 125 ml each) in a deep roasting tin. Divide the custard between them. Pour hot water from the kettle into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 30–40 minutes, until the edges are set and the centres wobble like jelly when nudged; the centre of the custard should read about 80°C (176°F).
Chill
Carefully lift the ramekins out of the water and cool for 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to 2 days.
Caramelise and serve
Blot any moisture from the surface. Sprinkle each custard with 1 tbsp sugar in an even layer, tilting to coat and tipping out the excess. Caramelise with a kitchen blowtorch, held a few centimetres away and kept moving, until the sugar melts and turns a deep amber. Let it harden for 2 minutes and serve. Keep the torch away from anything flammable and let the ramekins cool before handling, as the sugar is extremely hot.
No blowtorch? Put the sugared custards on a tray under a very hot broiler, as close to the element as possible, for 1–3 minutes, watching constantly. Chill them again for 15 minutes afterwards so the custard stays cold. The 300 minutes includes at least 3 hours of chilling.
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