Mark Bittman Creme Brulee Recipes

VANILLA CRèME BRûLéE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream, vanilla bean and salt and cook over low heat just until hot. Let sit for a few minutes, then discard vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, add it now.)
• In a bowl, beat yolks and sugar together until light. Stir about a quarter of the cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir. Pour into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until centers are barely set. Cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours and up to a couple of days.
• When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer. Place ramekins in a broiler 2 to 3 inches from heat source. Turn on broiler. Cook until sugar melts and browns or even blackens a bit, about 5 minutes. Serve within two hours.

FAVORITE CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• In a small saucepan, combine cream, vanilla bean and seeds, and 3/4 cup granulated sugar; place over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan. Do not boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl; while whisking constantly, slowly add hot cream mixture to egg yolks. Continue whisking until smooth. Strain custard mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a large liquid measuring cup; discard solids.
• Place six shallow 7-ounce ramekins in a roasting pan; transfer roasting pan to oven. Fill each ramekin to the top with custard mixture. Add enough hot water to baking pan so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until custard is set and trembles slightly when shaken, about 40 minutes.
• Remove ramekins from water bath and transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 30 minutes. Transfer ramekins to refrigerator and let chill for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.
• To serve, sprinkle each ramekin of custard with 1 tablespoon remaining granulated sugar. Using a kitchen torch held 4 to 5 inches from the surface, melt sugar using a slow and even motion, until sugar is caramelized. Serve immediately.

CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Beat egg yolks, 4 tablespoons white sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.
• Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately. Stir cream into the egg yolk mixture; beat until combined.
• Pour cream mixture into the top pan of a double boiler. Stir over simmering water until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon, about 3 minutes. Remove mixture from heat immediately and pour into a shallow heat-proof dish.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to broil.
• In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar and brown sugar. Sift this mixture evenly over custard. Place dish under broiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until custard is set again.

CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• In a saucepan over low heat, combine cream, vanilla bean and salt and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove vanilla bean.
• In large bowl, combine egg yolks and granulated sugar. Pour in hot cream and stir mixture gently to combine. Strain custard into a pitcher and skim off any bubbles.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Place 8 three-quarter-cup ramekins or ceramic custard cups in roasting pan. Pour custard into ramekins, filling to the rim. Place roasting pan in oven and carefully pour warm water into pan until it reaches halfway up sides of ramekins. Cover pan loosely with foil and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove ramekins from water bath and cool. Cover each and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or as long as 2 days.
• When ready to serve, preheat broiler. Uncover ramekins and place them on baking sheet. Top each with a thin layer of brown sugar. Use knife to spread sugar evenly across the custards. Broil custards about 2 inches from flame for 30 seconds to 2 minutes until sugar is caramelized, watching constantly to make sure it does not burn. Serve immediately.

MAPLE CREMA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Put syrup in 4-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. (Use a large saucepan, syrup will bubble up quite high.) Lower heat to simmer and cook until reduced by about two thirds, 15 to 20 minutes. (Syrup is ready when a few drops on a chilled plate are very sticky when rubbed with your fingers.)
• Remove from heat and whisk in cream and milk. Return saucepan to heat and bring to low simmer. Meanwhile whisk yolks well with sugar and salt in large bowl. Remove maple cream from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes, then very slowly whisk it into the yolks. Strain through a chinois or fine-meshed sieve to remove any lumps of yolk.
• Arrange 8 4-ounce ramekins or custard cups in a flat-bottomed roasting pan large enough to accommodate them with 3/4 inch of space in between the cups. Evenly divide the custard among the cups; do not fill to the top. Carefully add enough hot tap water to roasting pan to come a third of the way up sides of cups. Cover roasting pan with foil, tenting it slightly so that foil does not touch top of custards.
• Put pan on middle rack of oven and bake for 35 minutes; rotate pan, then bake another 15 minutes and check for doneness. The custards are done when the centers are set a bit, even jiggly like gelatin. Total baking time will be 50 to 60 minutes.
• Remove pan from oven, remove foil, and let custards cool in water bath until you can safely pick them up, then let them cool to room temperature. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, until thoroughly chilled.