Crème brûlée

Go ahead and take out the milk and eggs, because today you're going to make crème brûlée! You'll see how delicious and delicate this classic French burnt cream turns out. Carmen, author of Aunt Alia Recipes, gives you the recipe so it turns out great!

The Crème brûlée is a traditional French dessert, very similar to Catalan cream. Its name in Spanish is "crema quemada" and it is given by the thin layer of toasted brown sugar that finishes this dessert and adds an absolutely wonderful crunchy touch.

It’s a delicate dessert, but very easy to make. Perfect for lovers of egg-based desserts, such as flan, custard, tocino de cielo, and similar treats. Crème brûlée should be enjoyed well chilled, although waiting long enough for it can feel torturous. But the contrast between the cool cream and the warm caramelized layer on top is a true pleasure, well worth the wait.

Bérard olive wood spoon, Set of two Emile Henry ramekins and Birkmann round cooling rack.

Ingredients (For 4 units)

• 250ml whole milk
• 250ml of liquid cooking cream
• 2 vanilla beans or, alternatively, 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 5 size S eggs
• 90gr of white sugar
• 50gr of brown sugar

Preparation

1. We mix the milk and the cream and pour into a scoop.
2. With the help of a knife well sharpened, we cut the vanilla pods and scrape out their insides and add it to the previous mixture. If we don't have pods, we add a teaspoon of extract or vanilla extract.
3. Place the small saucepan over the heat and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 30 or 40 minutes, enough time for the mixture to infuse with the vanilla and for the temperature of the mixture to come down.
4. Preheat the oven to 100ºC with heat above and below.
5. We separate the yolks from the whites into two bowls different (you can use a egg yolk separator) . For this preparation we only want the yolks, so we set aside the whites for another preparation.
6. In a large container whisk the yolks together with the white sugar and add the tempered mixture of milk, cream, and vanilla.
7. We pass the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer to strain well so there are no lumps that ruin the final texture of the cream.
8. We fill out four Emile Henry crème brûlée ramekins and we put it in the oven where we bake for an hour and a half.
9. We check doneness by moving the pans and making sure they don't wobble in the center. Remove from the oven and let cool on a metal grid. Once it reaches room temperature, place the containers in the fridge and chill for about 2 or 3 hours.
10. When serving, sprinkle with brown sugar and caramelize with a culinary torch or under the oven broiler.

Birkmann round cooling rack, Bérard olive wood spoon, Set of two Emile Henry ramekins and Le Creuset ceramic ramekin.