LET’S SET THE SCENE: You’re in a dimly lit restaurant, you’ve just finished dinner, and the server is bringing over dessert. They set it down and your eyes follow to a glowing, lacquered crust. You lift your spoon and strike the top, shattering the surface. A soft creamy custard speckled with vanilla bean seeds peeks out from underneath. That is the joy and drama of a great creme brulee.
The building blocks are simple: eggs, cream, sugar, salt, and vanilla. But transforming these ingredients into a stunning dessert is not always easy. Traditionally the custard ingredients for creme brulee are heated just enough to dissolve the sugar and temper the eggs. The custard is then poured into ramekins, which are set in a water bath and baked (forwater surrounding the ramekins absorbs excess heat, allowing the custard to gently and evenly come up to and hold at 180 degrees, the temperature at which certain egg proteins begin to coagulate and set.
