Crème brûlée, or burnt cream is a classic custard dessert with a crispy caramelized sugar top layer. We wanted to add a spicy twist on this dish for an additional kick of flavor. Best served right away, this delicious treat is great for a planned dinner party, or a date night in.
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 35 - 60 min, in addition to chilling
Cook Time: 40+ min
1 quart heavy cream
1 ½ tablespoon black tea, loose leaf
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1 ¼ teaspoon cardamom, ground
¾ teaspoon ginger, ground
⅛ teaspoon cloves, ground
1 vanilla bean, split & scraped
1 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts of hot water
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Heat the cream, tea, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves in a small saucepan over medium low heat, until steam starts to rise. Remove the pan from the heat, cover the pan and let it steep for approximately 15 minutes. Strain to remove all solids and set aside.
Place the cream, vanilla bean and the pulp it produces into a medium saucepan set over medium high heat and bring to a boil. If you are not able to find a vanilla bean, you may use vanilla extract instead (we used 1 tbs). Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it begins to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring constantly. Pour the liquid into any size / shape ramekins. We ran out of ramekins and put them in small glass prep bowls. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan and pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the creme brûlée is set, but still wiggly in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. The more custard you have, the longer it will take to cook.
Remove the ramekins from the cake pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Remove the creme brûlée from the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to brûlée.
Divide the remaining 1/2 cup sugar among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Use a kitchen torch to melt the sugar layer until it becomes darker in color, and the sugar is not visible but hard and a solidified.
Let set aside for 5 minutes, and serve!
Notes:
We had some issues with our torch, and butane gas, which made the brûlée harder. Refill your torch an hour before you use it on your dessert.
This recipe made a lot more than we had imagined, and recommend halving it.