Crème Brûlée
A light and airy crème brûlée, simple, easy, and quick to make using a stand mixer.
Servings: 6
Equipment
- Stand mixer with balloon whisk
Ingredients
- 1 qt heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated cane sugar divided
- 6 ea egg yolks large
- 2 qts hot water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F / 160 degrees C.
- Place the cream and vanilla extract into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a low boil.Remove from the heat, cover, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
- In a stand mixer with a whisk, whisk the egg yolks until they start to thicken.(optionally) Flavor the egg mixture, or add any additional ingredients.Add the sugar and whisk until well blended and it lightens in color.
- With the stand mixer running, add the cream in a thin stream.
- Pour the liquid into 7 to 8-ounce ramekins. You can use the light foam on top, or the liquid underneath.Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan.Pour enough hot water into the pan until the ramekins just not start to float.
- Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes.
- Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
- Remove the crème brûlée from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top.Put in a large cake pan or roasting pan with hot water up to the top of the crème brûlée to warm them through.
- (optionally) Flavor the sugar to your liking.Put the sugar on top of the crème brûlée until it is fully covered and little dry heaps show.Pour off the sugar so only a thin, even layer sticks to the crème brûlée.Using a torch, melt the sugar, until it browns and bubbles.Let the sugar cool to harden to a crispy layer.
Notes
I never knew the way I make crème brûlée is unusual until a friend of mine asked me for help.
This approach is based on a range of traditional crème brûlée recipes (yes, I can do it the classic way) and updated to use a stand mixer and avoid all the scorching cream to an exact temperature, sieving vanilla bean extract from the cream, and sieving, and again, the eggs mixture to make it smooth.