2021 Baking Challenge Part 6: This Dessert is on FIRE!

My most recent baking challenge is one that I have always wanted to try. When I first tasted creme brûlée years and years ago, it quickly became one of my favorite desserts (it’s probably in second place behind ice cream). I think one of the reasons why I love it so much is because it is truly a treat – I have probably only had it once in the past 10 years but I always think about it fondly. Thankfully Pete helped make a big dream of mine come true by getting me the kitchen torch for my birthday in June! Now that I know it’s not too difficult to make, I’m gonna be brûlée-Ing all the time (even things that don’t need it! lol…just kidding…mostly).

For my challenge, I used a combination of Martha Stewart’s and Ina Garten’s recipe for chocolate creme brûlée. I liked the simplicity of steps in the Martha Stewart one and the depth of flavor that I thought the Ina Garten one had by adding in coffee and vanilla extract.

The ingredients I used are a Lindt dark chocolate bar that I chopped up, 5 egg yolks, 2 cups heavy cream, sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon of instant coffee (Ina recommends instant espresso but I worked with what I already had).

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To start, I preheated my oven to 275 degrees. Then I combined the heavy cream with a 1/4 cup of sugar on the stove until the sugar had dissolved and the cream began to simmer (Ina says to scald the milk and Martha says to get it to simmer…I believe I probably scalded it but since I’m not super knowledgeable, I have no idea really). Once the cream was bubbling a bit, I took the pot off the heat and added in my chocolate bar and the instant coffee until the chocolate was melted and everything was smooth and creamy. I then put the pot aside to cool down just a little bit.

Next, I put the egg yolks in a large glass measuring bowl and whisked the 3 tablespoons of sugar into them until they were all well combined. The chocolate cream mixture was cooled slightly but I still slowly poured it so I didn’t cook my eggs. I continuously stirred as I poured until all the ingredients were mixed together.

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The final ingredient I added to the bowl was 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Martha said to pour the chocolate, egg, and cream combination through a fine sieve, but I didn’t have a fine sieve and felt a little lazy (plus Ina didn’t say to do this), so I took the Ina route and just went ahead and poured the creamy mixture right into my ramekins. I don’t have enough consistent sized ramekins so I used my small glass Pampered Chef bowls and my two oven safe mini-crocks which were pretty uniform in look. I filled them with an even amount of the mixture.

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The ramekins were placed in a deep pan and then I poured the hottest tap water I could get into the pan until they were about halfway covered (which was Ina’s suggestion – Martha suggested boiling water). Next I had to do the second most stressful part of the recipe – transferring the pan to oven. I just kept picturing myself dropping everything or spilling the hot water all over myself, but thankfully that didn’t happen.

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The creme brûlée’s baked for the length of time from Martha’s recipe even though I used Ina’s oven temperature – so 275 degrees for an hour and ten minutes. This fact I always find so interesting because baking often feels like an exact science but different ovens really do have such a big effect on how a recipe turns out.

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Once the creme brûlée’s were mostly firm but had a slight jiggle on the top (which was slightly anxiety inducing to check since the ramekins were surrounded by scalding water that I was worried would slosh onto my oven mitts), I took them out of the oven. I had to carefully transfer each ramekin to a cooling rack to bring the brûlée’s to room temperature before I wrapped them in plastic wrap (as Ina suggested) and placed them in the refrigerator to completely cool down for at least an hour. Some recipes said to chill overnight but I was impatient and Martha said an hour was sufficient.

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Once Pete got home from work and we finished dinner, we did the most nerve racking part, but most definitely coolest (or hottest if I’m honest lol) part of the recipe – using the kitchen torch!! He helped me fill the torch with the butane and we each read and reread the instructions. I didn’t want to mess around with fire inside our apartment!! I put a spoonful of sugar on top of the cooled chocolate creme mixture and turned the torch on. The blue flame was pretty mesmerizing to watch as it heated and burned the sugar into a nice crisp.

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Once there was a nice, caramelized (probably slightly too burnt) layer I turned the torch off and let the sugar cool for about 5 minutes. Check out my Instagram (@Aw.everysooften) for some fun videos we took during this process. When it was cooled, there was a gorgeous, glassy layer of sugar on top. I grabbed my spoon to test that we had a satisfying crack sound and we did (the slow-mo version of this test is also on my Instagram)!

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My favorite part was tasting the final product. I was a little nervous that combining the recipes and adding the coffee wouldn’t taste right, but it was perfect. The creme brûlée was nice and light and the flavors seemed to balance really well. I think the coffee helped to offset the sweetness of the sugar topping. I asked Pete and he said he would rate the creme brûlée’s as one of his favorite, if not his favorite, of my challenges this year.

Now that I know how simple this creme brûlée recipe was, I may have to break it out for parties (so watch out friends/family for a treat and a spectacle! lol). I definitely want to try the classic vanilla version soon.

If you try out this Martha/Ina fused recipe, send me an update on how it went for you! I know that if you don’t have a kitchen torch, you can also broil it in the oven. As always, let me know if you have a recipe I should try for a future baking challenge!:)

Thank you for reading!

Love,

Alanna