Crème brûlée, two ways (vanilla and green tea)

I got a new toy for Christmas.  I've wanted a kitchen blow torch for years but always talked myself out of it.  I couldn't quite justify another gadget that I'd rarely use.  But I couldn't resist putting it on my Christmas list this year, and Santa delivered!  So, of course, I had to make crème brûlée!

Vanilla Crème Brûlée

I made two kinds - the first being a classic vanilla crème brûlée.  I'm always happy to make and taste anything showcasing eggs.  If I had to pick a favorite ingredient to cook with, eggs would be it.  I love egg custards, and crème brûlée is like its glitzy, glamorous, rich cousin.

Thanks to my new kitchen blow torch, I can get that signature thin layer of hard, almost bittersweet, caramel on top of the cool, creamy, eggy, sweet vanilla custard. It is an easy thing to love!  And with that kitchen torch, crème brûlée is a magical little dessert that's actually really easy to conjure up.  Cook the custard ahead of time since it needs to chill and keep it in the refrigerator until time to serve when the theatrics begin and you can shower the top with sugar and turn that torch on!

For my custard, I used half heavy cream and half milk. The crème brûlée was plenty rich and utterly delicious with flecks of vanilla beans running through every bite.  

Green Tea (Matcha) Crème Brûlée

That was the classic...and now let's chat about the second rendition I made: green tea crème brûlée.  I had a green tea (or matcha) crème brûlée once well over ten years ago that I loved so much, it stayed with me all this time.  So I knew that if ever I got that kitchen blow torch and made crème brûlée, I'd have to try a green tea version.

Once upon a time, I worked in finance as an investment research associate.  Every so often, we would go on roadshow presentations - lunches hosted by companies looking to hold an offering, selling company stock to raise funds.  I'd be sitting there, listening and taking copious notes (fun times) that I'd need to turn into reports and such.  At least these meetings came with a good meal.  One time, I was at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York City for one of these roadshows and while I don't remember any other specifics about that day, I do remember the most delicious green tea crème brûlée served for dessert.  I was really surprised by how good it was and that's why I've thought about green tea crème brûlée for years.

That's my little story.  And really, the green tea version is so good.  I suppose that slightly bitter, grassy note to the tea gets mellowed by the sweet custard and there's a nice balancing effect happening. The green tea crème brûlée did not disappoint and lived up to the hype I had in my mind from that one experience.

My husband and I enjoyed both the vanilla and green tea crème brûlée together and we tried to decide which we liked best.  There was a lot of oohing and aahing in general and I think we remain undecided.  The vanilla is such a classic - thoroughly sweet.  Ironically, though the green tea tastes less sweet, there's actually a bit more sugar in it than the vanilla.  Both are divine and I'm really glad I decided to finally ask Santa for my little kitchen torch.


Learning to brulee...

I quickly realized brulee-ing takes some practice, and confidence!  My husband was home and wanted to take pictures of me during my inaugural brulee experience and the whole time I was doing it, I had visions of the ramekin bursting or setting my husband's hair on fire!  I was a nervous wreck.  

I did the green tea one first and I think it seriously took me about 10 minutes to brulee that one because I was afraid of going too close to the surface and...just afraid, period!  By the time I was done, the green tea custard beneath was too warm and melted but at least there were no mishaps!  I realized I had to get a lot closer to the sugar surface and the second (vanilla) one took less than a minute to caramelize (and you can see the difference in the topping)!  Who knew there was such a learning curve when it comes to using a kitchen blow torch!

And I was hoping for a nice evenly dark-brown layer of caramelized sugar but those dark spots seem inevitable to my inexperienced hand.  Luckily, every bit of it was delicious even if it didn't look exactly the way I envisioned.  That said, I welcome any kitchen torch wielding tips!

For the topping, I also tried using superfine sugar as well as regular granulated sugar separately to compare.  Some prefer superfine sugar because it melts more quickly and that helps you achieve the caramel layer quickly without warming and disturbing the custard too much.  But in my experience here, I didn't notice a marked difference between the two types of sugar.  

All I know for sure is that crème brûlée is very tasty!


Recipes:

Vanilla Crème Brûlée
Adapted from I Love Macarons

- For two servings (approximately 6-ounce ramekin servings) - 

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 vanilla bean
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar for custard
Granulated (or superfine) sugar for topping, approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons per serving

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Bring a kettle of water to a boil and set nearby.  Set two 6-ounce ramekins in a baking pan.

Place milk and cream into a small saucepan.  Scrape the vanilla seeds out of the vanilla bean and place it, along with the pod, into the pan.  Heat mixture, stirring often, until it is very hot and just starting to bubble up around the edges.

Whisk egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until it reaches a pale yellow. Temper the egg yolks by slowly streaming a bit of the hot milk and cream mixture into it while whisking constantly.  Whisk in the rest of the hot liquid, then sieve mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl or measuring cup.  

Pour custard into the ramekins.  Carefully pour hot water into the baking pan until water comes about halfway up the side of the ramekins.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until custard is set and just barely jiggles when moved.  Remove ramekins from the water bath, let cool, then cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours until firm.

Right before serving, sprinkle each ramekin with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.  Try to distribute the sugar evenly over the surface.  Use a kitchen blow torch and very carefully caramelize the sugar.  You should have a layer of dark golden brown caramel.  Let sit for 2 minutes before serving so the caramelized sugar can harden into a thin crispy layer that shatters under your spoon.  


Green Tea Crème Brûlée
Adapted from Just One Cookbook and recipe above

- For two servings (approximately 6-ounce ramekin servings) - 

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder (I use this one)
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar for custard
Granulated (or superfine) sugar for topping, approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons per serving

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Bring a kettle of water to a boil and set nearby.  Set two 6-ounce ramekins in a baking pan.

Place milk and cream into a small saucepan.  Gently whisk in the matcha green tea powder.  Heat mixture, stirring often, until it is very hot and just starting to bubble up around the edges.

Whisk egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until it reaches a pale yellow. Temper the egg yolks by slowly streaming a bit of the hot milk and cream mixture into it while whisking constantly.  Whisk in the rest of the hot liquid, then sieve mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl or measuring cup.  

Pour custard into the ramekins.  Carefully pour hot water into the baking pan until water comes about halfway up the side of the ramekins.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until custard is set and just barely jiggles when moved.  Remove ramekins from the water bath, let cool, then cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours until firm.

Right before serving, sprinkle each ramekin with about 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.  Try to distribute the sugar evenly on the surface.  Use a kitchen blow torch and very carefully caramelize the sugar.  You should have a layer of dark golden brown caramel.  Let sit for 2 minutes before serving so the caramelized sugar can harden into a thin crispy layer that shatters under your spoon.