Crème Brûlée

Making a ton of them!

Crème brûlée, the classic French dessert, is perhaps most famously known for being a dish that involves utilizing a blowtorch, making it one of the most entertaining desserts to prepare if not also one of the most delicious. The dish was surprisingly easy to concoct—in fact, of all the dishes we have worked on so far, I’d say that crème brûlée required the least amount of actual work! While I tasked myself with separating 8 egg yolks, my two partners put together whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. We whisked all the ingredients thoroughly and then distributed the liquid into ramekins.

My group had to triple the recipe and prepare twelve ramekins instead of just four! The next step was to place the crème brûlée into a water bath so that the custard would form evenly and gently. The water in the bottom of the cooking pans would ensure that no hot spots in the oven could distribute heat incorrectly so our dessert would turn out right.

Torching the brown sugar.

I would go so far as to say that the final step in this process was everyone’s favorite. After the crème brûlée cooked for roughly an hour and was allowed to cool in the refrigerator until the next day, we sprinkled brown sugar on the top and used a blowtorch to caramelize the sugar into a crunchy, delicious crust.Of course, the same results can be achieved by placing the crème brûlée under a broiler and melting the sugar that way, but where’s the fun in that? We later found out you're supposed to use white sugar instead of brown sugar to get the best results The only remaining step was to enjoy the cracking the top and dipping our spoons into the chilled vanilla custard. I must say, the results were certainly not disappointing! With so few ingredients, almost no hard work, and a fun, blow-torch fueled conclusion, you can’t go wrong with making crème brûlée, and it’s always sure to impress!

Delicious!