TITLE: The perfect Crème Brûlée
AUTHORS: René  Bernard

[DESCRIPTION]
Crème Brûlée has a short ingredient list and does not require specific skills to make, but to get it right, several steps need to be carefully executed to receive the creme, not a pudding that, that is still grainy or liquid. With a caramel crust that offers a perfectly smooth surface you can break with your spoon like ice when you tap on it. Most Crème Brûlées offer one or the other but to get everything right, requires attention to details in the making.

[STEPS]
SECTION: Preparation of creme
1. Take a midsize stainless steel pot and add500 mL of heavy whipping cream and add 100 g sugar.
 

SECTION: Preparation of creme
2. Take one Bourbon Vanilla bean and with a small and pointy knife cut it open lengthwise. Remove the sticky vanilla mark with the knife and at it to the cream-sugar-mix. When all mark is removed, add the bean to the mix as well.
SECTION: Preparing the eggs
4. Take 7 midsize eggs (size M). If you have smaller organic eggs use 9. Open the eggs by cracking the egg shell, carefully separate the egg yolk from the egg white and add the egg yolks into a midsize bowl. 
SECTION: Preparation of creme
3. Heat the mix on a stove until it briefly boils then let it cool down until the pot is handwarm.
SECTION: Preparing the eggs
5. Add the whipping cream-sugar mix on the egg yolks and mix it all and not too hard with a whisk. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the mix.

SECTION: pass the yolk-cream mix
6. Use a funnel and put in a cotton cloth that can act as a filter. Have another midsize bowl under the funnel for collecting. Now small amount of yolk-cream mix to the funnel. Us a spoon to stir which will speed up the filtration process. The purpose of this step is to remove remaining egg white from the mix. 
SECTION: pass the yolk-cream mix
7. Pass the filtered mix into the serving bowls made of ceramic or glas. They must have shallow depth and contain a max volume of 100 ml. Fill them up to 3/4 of the volume.

SECTION: Heating and cooling
8. Preheat your oven to 91 °C . Use a thermometer to verify. Lower temperatures will unnecessarily lengthen the process, boiling will ruin your product. Place all bowl on tray and insert them carefully in the middle row. After 30 min gently tap on the tray to test whether the mix is still liquid. Remove bowls from the oven when the surface is not liquid anymore. 

SECTION: Heating and cooling
9. Important: Let the bowls cool down to Room temperature  and then put them uncovered into the fridge 4-8 °C. Don't leave them in there for longer than 24 hours. If you plan NOT to serve the Crème right away, cover the bowl after they have been in the fridge for 1 hour with aluminum foil.  
 




SECTION: Preparing the crust
10. Take a pan and add 50 g of white sugar and heat it until caramelized. Pour liquid sugar onto a self-made tray of aluminum foil and let it cool down to room temperature.



SECTION: Preparing the crust
11. Break up the caramelized sugar with a large spoon and transfer the smashed pieces to a blender and blend for 30 s 

SECTION: Preparing the crust
12. Sprinkle the caramelized sugar on the entire dry surface of the Crème. Thickness should be between 1-2 mm. Then use a small butane-operated blow torch to melt the caramelized sugar. Depending on your taste preference it is okay to burn a few spinkles. Do this step fast and cover every area to obtain a smooth surface layer. Serve immediately.