Julia Child’s Creme Brulee
From: chezus.com
3 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup superfine sugar, I process refined sugar until powdered.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the cream into a stir in the vanilla bean and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover the pan, and let steep for 30 minutes.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in the mixing bowl until the yolks are thick, pale yellow, and form a fat, slowly dissolving ribbon when dropped from the whisk back into the bowl.
Remove the vanilla bean from the hot cream. Temper the yolks, by slowly stirring the warm milk into the yolks, until all the cream has been added and the mixture is well mixed. Skim off any bubbles from the surface of the custard.
Arrange ramekins in a baking pan and ladle the custard into each, leaving 1/4 inch at the top for the glaze. Set the baking pan in the oven and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the ramekins. Bake the custards for 30 – 35 minutes, until the tops are set but the custard in the center is still soft to the touch.
Carefully remove the baking pan from the oven, and lift the ramekins from the hot water. Let them cool briefly, and then chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, over night.
Just before serving. sprinkle a tablespoon or so of the powdered sugar over each custard and smooth it gently with the back of a spoon, forming an even layer of sugar that completely covers the surface. Using a cooking torch, melt the sugar until it starts to caramelize.