Creme brulee is one of my dad’s favorite desserts, so for Christmas my mom and I bought him a creme brulee set for me to make for him. (Sorry for the lack of accents francophones, I’m not sure how to add them in Blogger) It was a little bit of an Indian giver gift since I had been wanting to make creme brulee anyway, but it made no difference in the end.

Creme brulee always reminds me of the French film, Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulin, a staple to any French course cirriculum. In the beginning of the film, Amelie shares some of her favorite things: dipping her hand into a barrel of grains, skipping stones on St. Martin’s Canal, guessing how many people in Paris are having an orgasm at one instant, and most notably in my mind (if anything can be more notable than the former) — cracking the top of a creme brulee with a spoon. It really is a fantastic noise.

Although I was nervous to use the torch, it turned out to be very easy and I highly recommend trying it! We got the kit at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but I’m sure you could find one at most kitchen stores. The recipe I used was from Average Betty, and it was easy and very delicious. I halved the recipe and it still filled up 3, 4-oz ramekins.

The top was perfectly crunchy and the inside was extremely creamy and rich. C’est parfait! And I would know, I tried my fair share of creme brulees while studying abroad in Paris. You’ll be surprised how easy this fancy dessert really is, give it a try!

Creme Brulee (Adapted from Average Betty)

6 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Additional sugar for torching the tops

– Preheat oven to 300 degrees
– In a mixer, beat egg yolks on high and add sugar and vanilla. Continue to beat at high speed for about 3 minutes
– Stop the mixer and add the heavy cream
– Combine the mixture gently and add the salt. Make sure ingredients are fully incorporated, without forming too many bubbles
– Strain the mixture once and divide the batter evenly into ramekins
– Create a water bath for the ramekins by placing them in a baking disk and filling with warm water half way up the sides of the ramekins
– Bake for 50 minutes, making sure the tops do not brown too much
– Remove from oven and allow ramekins to cool in the water bath until they’re cool enough to touch
– Wrap with plastic wrap and cool in refrigerator overnight
– Dust each ramekin with about 1 tsp of granulated sugar and shake it to make sure you have an even layer.
– Use a torch to brown the sugar by making small, continuous circular motions about an inch away from the ramekin.
– Place in the fridge until ready to serve and garnish with berries.