Lavender crème brûlée (adapted from Cook’s Illustrated classic crème brûlée recipe)
Serves 8
OK, so this recipe has a lot of steps, takes some
specialized gear (although most of the items will already be present in a
well-stocked kitchen), and takes some time (make it early in the morning or a
day ahead so that it can chill). But it
is absolutely the smoothest, creamiest, richest crème brûlée you will ever
taste. I’ve tasted crème brûlée in some
nice restaurants all over the world, and nothing has been as good as this
recipe.
If you don’t like lavender (why not?), just omit it. This recipe can be adapted to make coffee
crème brûlée (just use crushed coffee beans instead of lavender) or chai crème
brûlée (use tea leaves instead of lavender and add a pinch of cinnamon). Just don’t try to substitute other
ingredients (like vanilla extract for the vanilla pod), and don’t do any
shortcuts. This recipe hinges upon
technique. As long as you follow the
instructions, it will turn out fine.
Time needed:
Prep – 20 min
Cooking – 35 min
Cooling to room temperature – 2 hours
Chilling – 4 hours to overnight
Ingredients:
4 c heavy cream, chilled
2/3 c sugar
Pinch salt
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
12 large egg yolks
3 Tbsp culinary lavender
8-12 tsp sugar for brulee-ing (see note at end)
Gear:
Medium saucepan
Double-ply cheesecloth
Kitchen twine
Strainer
Sharp knife (e.g. paring knife)
Whisk
Large bowl
Tea towel or thin kitchen towel
Roasting pan
Tea kettle or a second saucepan to boil water
8 4- to 5-oz baking ramekins
Instant-read thermometer
Wire rack
Plastic wrap
Brûlée torch
Steps:
- Place
oven rack in lower-middle position and preheat oven to 300 F.
- Place
the lavender into the cheesecloth and tie into a bundle with kitchen
twine.
- Combine
2 c of the cream, 2/3 c sugar, and salt in the saucepan. Using a knife, scrape the vanilla beans
from the pod into the pan; add the pod. Add the lavender bundle. Bring this mixture just to a boil over medium heat, stirring
occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Take the pan off the heat and let steep for 15 minutes.
- While
the cream mixture steeps, place a tea towel or thin kitchen towel in the
bottom of a roasting pan. Place the
ramekins on the towel.
- Bring
a tea kettle full of water to the boil. How much water? You’ll need
enough to fill the roasting pan to come 2/3rds of the way up the ramekins
(see step 9). That’s usually about
1 full kettle.
- After
cream mixture has steeped, stir in the remaining 2 cup of cream. Fish out the lavender bundle and the
vanilla bean pod.
- Whisk
the egg yolks in the large bowl until well-mixed. Add 1 cup of the cream mixture to the
yolks, whisking to combine. Repeat
with another cup of the cream mixture. Repeat again with the rest of the cream mixture. (Do not try to skip this gradual
addition of cream to yolks—you’ll be sorry if you do.)
- Strain
the mixture, discarding the solids. (You’ll be surprised at the amount of gunk!) Pour the strained mixture into the
ramekins.
- Place
the roasting pan with ramekins onto the oven rack. Carefully pour the boiling water into
the roasting pan so that the water reaches 2/3rds the height of the
ramekins. This is called a water
bath, or bain Marie, and it is necessary to cook the brûlée to a creamy texture. Do not even think of skipping this step.
- Bake
for 25-35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the center of one
of the brûlées (make sure the thermometer doesn’t touch the bottom or
sides) reads 175 degrees. That
generally takes round ramekins the full time.
- Transfer
the ramekins to a wire rack (be careful—they’ll be hot!). Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
- Once
cooled to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap. Place into refrigerator and let cool at
least 4 hours.
- Do not
brûlée until you are ready to serve, lest the crystalline crust becomes
soggy. Remove the brûlées from the
fridge and remove the plastic wrap. If there is any condensation on the brûlées, use a paper towel to
dab it up. Sprinkle 1-1.5 tsp of
sugar evenly onto the top of each brûlée and use torch to caramelize. Serve immediately.
Note: I have tried using different
types of sugar for the caramelized top, including superfine sugar (baking
sugar), turbinado (sugar in the raw), brown sugar, and plain sugar. Plain sugar gives a great result, and it’s
cheaper than turbinado (my 2nd choice).