Equipment
- Sous Vide Cooker
- Kitchen Blow Torch
Ingredients
- 3 Egg Yolks
- 1 Cup Pouring Cream
- ⅓ Cup Sugar
- Pinch Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste
- Extra Sugar to Caramelize
Instructions
- Place the egg yolks into a large bowl. Add the sugar, vanilla bean paste, salt and cream.
- Whisk to combine and serve until the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Rest the mixture for 30 minutes to allow air bubbles to come to the surface.
- Divide the mixture among four jars and close them with the lids.
- Fill your sous vide container with water. Attach your sous vide circulator and set the temperature to 83 °C.
- Gently lower the jars into the water and allow the jars to come up to the set temperature along with the water.
- When the water reaches temperature, start a cooking timer for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove the jars from the water and allow the custard to cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the jars to the fridge to chill over night.
- To serve, remove the lids from the jars and sprinkle a little sugar evenly over the surface of the custard. Make sure the sugar layer is not too thick and that it completely covers the surface of the custard.
- Use a blow torch to caramelize the sugar on the surface. The sugar will melt first before starting to bubble and then turning an amber color. Be careful to not add too much heat or you will curdle the custard
- Let the caramelized sugar cool down for a minute to harden and serve immediately.
If you have ever tried to make a Creme Brulee before, you will know it can be easy to mess up. If you make a mistake, you are likely to overcook or curdle the custard. Unfortunately overcooked brulee will leave you with a horrible goop that tastes terrible. A typical traditional Creme Brulee requires you to heat the cream before whisking in a bunch of other ingredient. This is often a cause of error in the cooking process
What sets the recipe apart from other recipes is that it uses a sous vide cooker to precisely cook the custard. The end results are a near perfect custard every time.
Serving the brulee
If you are looking for a dessert that can be made ahead of time for a dinner gathering then I highly recommend this recipe. This dessert can be served on its own and has an elegance from its simplicity. My personal preference is to serve the jars on plates with a small pile of berries. Couple this with a golden caramelization on the top of the custard and you create a simple dessert that will leave your guests very impressed.
The recipe very easily doubles or triples if you are needing to make a large batch (provided you have enough jars). If for some odd reason you find yourself looking at leftovers, they will keep in the fridge for a week.
Notes on heating
It is important you add the jars to the water before heating the water. If you add the cold jars to the hot water you are likely to crack the jars.
