Strawberry Creme Brulee
It's an old story, but a good one. Egg meets cream. Egg marries Cream. Deliciousness, smoothness, and decadence ensue. Plus a little bit of jiggling.
Strawberries and cream go together so perfectly, why not marry the creme brulee with strawberries? Other berries could be used in place of strawberries if you prefer, so feel free to experiment.
Note:
The recipe calls for using a broiler element to caramelize the sugar however, if you've got a blow torch and feel like using it, by all means go for it.
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Strawberry Cream Layer
1 pint strawberries, washed and hulled
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
Custard
3 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 Vanilla bean
8 large egg yolks
About 1/3 cup turbinado or brown sugar, for topping
- Puree the strawberries with the cream, sugar and lemon juice in a blender or food processor just until smooth (careful not to overprocess or the cream will turn to butter...) Divide the mixture among 8 creme brulee dishes or 5-ounce ramekins. Cover the ramekins and freeze until the mixture is solid, about two hours.
- To make the custard, combine 1 1/2 cups of the cream, the sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape its tiny seeds into the pan, then add the vanilla bean pod. Bring the mixture just to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat, cover it, and let it steep for ten minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
- When the cream mixture has steeped, stir in the remaining 1 1/2 cups cream. Whisk the egg yolks briefly in a medium bowl. Then very slowly add the warm cream mixture to the yolks, whisking gently but constantly. Strain the custard, and divide it among the creme brulee dishes or ramekins.
- Put the dishes into a baking dish or roasting pan big enough to hold them, and place it into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot tap water into the pan, being careful not to get any water into the creme brulees, to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.
- Bake the creme brulees for 34-40 minutes, until they are softly set but still a bit jiggly. Don't be alarmed that now the tops of the brulees are now mostly pink. Remove the brulees from the water bath and let them cool at room temperature.
- Cover the brulees tightly with plastic wrap and let them chill for a minimum of three hours, or as long as two days.
- About an hour before serving, position your oven rack 3 or 4 inches below your broiler element. Preheat your broiler. Sprinkle the tops of each brulee with the turbinado or brown sugarm tilting the dishes to spread the surface of each one with a thin, even layer of sugar.
- Put the brulees on a sturdy baking sheet and briol them, moving or turning them occasionally if necessary to promote even broiling, until the sugar has melted and caramelized. Immediately remove the brulees and chill them, uncovered, for 30 minutes before serving.