[Fintan]

I have signed up here several times and posted informative articles and given witty commentary only to return and sign on later and find nothing but a purple screen with the words "account banned or suspended."

 

Perhaps if you'd calm down, take your meds, and post a decent recipe for crème brulee...

[ChefKeith]

CREME BRULEE

1 pt. heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tsp. vanilla
Light brown sugar (granulated)

Heat heavy cream (the heaviest you can get) to the boiling point. Lightly beat egg yolks with sugar and a pinch of salt; pour the hot cream over them, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or wire whisk until well blended. Add vanilla or a little mace or any other flavoring you desire. Strain the custard into a 1 1/2 quart heat-proof baking dish; stand the dish in a pan of warm water and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the custard is completely set but not over cooked. Do not let the water in the pan boil. Remove from the oven; cool and then chill in the refrigerator.

About 1 1/2 to 2 hours before serving, sprinkle the top evenly with fine light brown granulated sugar to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Put under the broiler (or use a salamander, if you have one) until the sugar is melted and bubbly, watching carefully to see it does not scorch and burn. Remove, cool, and chill again until serving time. You'll have a hard, highly glazed crust on top of an unctuous, voluptuous custard. This will serve about 6. If you have more guests, double the recipe, using 12 egg yolks to a quart of cream.

While you can certainly serve creme brulee alone, it is sometimes fun to gild the lily a bit. I like a little cream with it, either heavy cream or whipped cream, flavored perhaps with a touch of cognac.

To save on calories, I now use half & half instead of the heavy cream.

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Personal Note: Use a propane torch to crust the sugar instead of the oven broiler or salamander. It works better and faster!!!! You can take it from the fridge and crust it and eat instead of waiting for it to chill back down.

Also I'd pass on the 1/2 & 1/2 and stick with 50% butter fat or more on the heavy cream. If you go to a Food Service Supply they may even have 60%.

Also go with small ramekin's instead of the big dish.