Homemade Custards

Créme Brûlée

Ingredients:

12 egg yolks
12 Tbs. plus 3 tsp. sugar (preferably superfine)
3 cups heavy cream
custard cups or ramekins

Preparation:

Start by whisking egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until the sugar is dissolved. While whisking, heat cream in a heavy saucepan until it is very hot, but not boiling. The cream is ready when a skin first starts to form on the surface.

To make creme caramel instead of brûlée, simply caramelize some sugar on the stovetop and pour about one tablespoon of the liquid sugar mixture into a custard cup before adding the custard (figure C).

Place a dishtowel in the bottom of a glass casserole dish, and set the custard cups on the towel. Add hot water to the casserole dish until it comes up at least halfway on the custard cups. The towel and the water bath are very important to keep the custard from burning while cooking.

* If superfine sugar is not available, pulse regular sugar in a blender until it has a fine texture.