Creme Brulee Recipe Confusion
I am going to attempt to make creme brulee for my parents anniversary and I need help. I have researched a lot of recipes and am more confused now than ever. All the recipies have the same ingredients, egg yolks, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla...but the quantities all vary for the same number of servings. Do I use 8 egg yolks to a quart of cream? 11? 6? How does the varying quantity of ingredients change the outcome?
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12 Comments:
I've tried a lot of recipes, and the proportions do vary....My goto recipe is a slight modification of the Williams-Sonoma recipe that came with my torch. It has evolved with a bit of trial and error as I'll explain below, first though here are my proportions to produce 4 six-ounce ramekin desserts (generous portion):
1 pnt Heavy Whipping Cream
¼ cup Baking Sugar (very fine)
½ teasp Salt
4 lrg Egg Yolks
1 tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
I upped their recipe to 4 egg yolks because I normally use extract instead of a vanilla pod. If I use a vanilla pod, then I cut it back to 3 egg yolks.
Also, for any type of custard, I use "Bakers Sugar" which is a granulated sugar with a grit between table/castor sugar and the powdered confectioners sugar. I find that this dissolves better in the cream and also melts better when you torch it. You should be able to find this in the baking aisle at your grocery store.
The ful W-S recipe is here
2qrs at 12:19PM on 06/26/08
Well -- since egg yolks are the thickener in custards, more yolks will make a thicker, richer custard than fewer yolks. It will be creamier too -- think less jello and more pudding, for lack of a better description. There is a lower limit that you must use to make the custard set up. After that, it depends on how rich you want your custard to be. Of course, you can also use too much of good thing too and then your custard will taste more eggy than creme brulee-ey and be too thick.
I have made creme brulee using as many as 12 yolks to 4 cups of cream (and 2/3 cup sugar.) It was very rich and creamy. You could go with 1-2 fewer yolks (perhaps even as many as 4) and still get a custard that would set up.
When I find myself in this situation -- faced with several variations on a recipe -- I like set to up a spreadsheet of the primary ingredients (omitting things like salt & vanilla etc.) so I can get a better view of what the real differences are. You can easily adjust the amounts and try to see how different the recipes really are. Then, if they are big differences, I can try the different versions to see which I prefer.
But then again, I'm a geek ... you could also just draw a table of ingredients and do your own figuring on the back on envelope.
kjgibson at 12:29PM on 06/26/08
The custard dishes you use also make a big difference. Are you trying to use those shallow fluted dishes so you get a lot of "brulee" or are you using regular sized ramekins?
chiff0nade at 2:12PM on 06/26/08
Thanks for all the tips so far! I believe I have regular sized ramekins, they are maybe 2-3 inches in diameter and about half as tall??
Leo1881 at 2:58PM on 06/26/08
I LOVE creme brulee, but I've never made it myself.
what time should I be there?
Southern_bella at 3:50PM on 06/26/08
Thanks for all the tips so far! I believe I have regular sized ramekins, they are maybe 2-3 inches in diameter and about half as tall??
For creme brulee, the more surface area the better. So the shallow dishes with a larger diameter are preferred. These as opposed to these. You want lots of crunchy top!
You may need to adjust the baking time if you use the deeper ramekins -- cook it until it is JUST set and still a little soft in the center. The holdover baking will finish it off. Look at your recipe and see what is says for dishes and time.
kjgibson at 5:02PM on 06/26/08
Creme Brulee is the best!
The recipe from my Anthony Bourdain Les Halles Cookbook is the only one I use and recommend. :-)
(Serves 6)
1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
6 ounces of granulated sugar
10 egg yolks
6 tbsp of brown sugar
You'll need six 8-oz ramekins. Fill and place in a baking pan (9 by 13 inch) filled with water so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. 300 degree oven for 45 min.
My favourite cookbook....
paris221966 at 3:13AM on 06/27/08
Thank you everyone!!
Leo1881 at 11:29AM on 06/27/08
As a pastry chef and having made enough creme brulee to cause a lifetime of nightmares and sugar shock, the above quoted Anthony Bourdain recipe is the closest to my super sized recipe that i have found; i add a pinch of salt to that recipe and be sure to bake the custards in a bain-marie and not too hot an oven.
hobcat57 at 1:33PM on 06/27/08
I can't believe this question has been up 24 hours and no one has made the most obvious suggestion of all: go out to Home Depot and buy a real blow torch. Don't even try it with one of those wimpy cooking torches. The custard is basically just custard--use whatever recipe suits your fancy. (I like the ones with real flecks of vanilla beans.) And then roll up your sleeves and become Rosy the Riveter (okay---that dates me) and torch the heck out of the sugar you've sprinkled on top. It can be brown sugar or white, but sprinkle the sugar evenly and save the torching for the last minute.
The first step is always a trip to the hardware store! Forget Williams Sonoma...
Teachertalk at 2:23PM on 06/27/08
@Teachertalk, you're totally right. Every restaurant kitchen uses a blowtorch that, even if didn't come from HomeDepot, looks more like a hardware store blowtorch than that puny little thing from WS!
And you can use the same torch for French Onion Soup. I'll never forget watching Julia Child torching her onion soup gratinee with a blowtorch and wearing welder's helmet. LOL I was 12 or something and asked my dad to buy me a blowtorch.
wookie at 1:50PM on 06/30/08
pick one recipe - the one that seems best to you - and run with it!!!! If you don't like something in the end results, pick another one that might take care of the issue...
Best of luck.
MadelynRodriguez at 1:57PM on 06/30/08