Crème Brûlée

In one week, I’ve made crème brulee four times...  not because I messed up and wanted to keep trying, but because it is oh so delicious!!!   It all started with my husband buying two 18-count cartons of eggs.  He didn’t know how many I needed so he decided to buy a bunch!  The same week Costco’s vanilla beans went on clearance!  This was a sign to make crème brulee!  The last time I made this, I used Betty Crocker’s Recipe.  It was good, but not compared to the modifications I made to Costco’s recipe!!!

Basic Ingredients from Betty Crocker Cookbook ®2006 Recipe (p206)

•    6 large egg yolks
•    2 cups heavy whipping cream
•    1/3 cup sugar
•    1 teaspoon vanilla

On the back of Costco’s Vanilla Bean Package contains a Crème Brulee recipe as well.  Here is the exact recipe from Kirkland Signature Rodelle:

Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
8 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean

Preparation:
1.    Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pour sugar into the egg yolks and beat the yolks until smooth. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean.
2.    Heat the heavy cream until almost simmering. Gradually add the heavy cream to the egg yolks while whisking vigorously.  This will temper the eggs so that they do not curdle.  Once all of the heavy cream has been added into the yolks, pour the mixture into 6 to 8 ramekins depending on size.
3.    Place the ramekins in a baking pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  Bake just until the custard is set, but still jiggles in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes.  Remove ramekins from the pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving.
4.    30 minutes before serving, remove the custard from the refrigerator.  Pour about a teaspoon of sugar on the top of each custard.  Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top.

So I’ve started smelling my food to “test” it instead of tasting it.  Don’t ask me why, but I have been.  It’s probably a good idea that I do a smell test on raw foods anyway.  I started to follow this recipe exactly, but I smelt it and it didn’t smell sweet enough, so I added another ¼ cup sugar.  After whisking in the real vanilla beans, I smelt it again.  I was hoping for a blast of vanilla flavor, but it didn’t smell “perfect”.  So I added in a teaspoon of natural vanilla extract.  I also went ahead and put the vanilla bean (after I scraped it) in the pot to simmer with the heavy cream.  During this process I was able to scrape out more vanilla bean and add more flavor to the cream!  I discarded the bean and continued on with the directions from the original recipe.  This is the best crème brulee I have ever eaten!!!  This beats Ruth's Chris!