Creme Brulee

I hope all those that were in the path of Irene are safe. There are newspapers reporting that Irene has caused much less damage than anticipated but to me Saturday night felt like an eternity. Perhaps, because hurricanes dont hit the NY-NJ-PA tristate area as much and my experience with hurricanes almost nil.
Power outages to flooding, of course, ruined the entire weekend...during Summer...Arrgghhh!

Recipe:Aida Mollenkamp

Creme Brulee

1 Vanilla Bean
2 cups Heavy Cream
2 Cups Half and Half
8 Large egg yolks
1/2 cup + 8 tsps Superfine sugar
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

• Preheat the oven to 325F
• Split the Vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape the seeds with a paring knife.
• Combine the cream, half and half, Vanilla seeds along with the pod in a saucepan.
• Bring them to a simmer over medium heat

• Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer to infuse the cream,about 10 min
• Discard the Vanilla pod.
• Remove the cream mixture and let it cool down
• Whisk the egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar and salt ina bowl until the sugar is well combined and completely dissolved; The mixture should be pale yellow and thick.
• Whisk the Cream mixture into the egg mixture slowly.
• Remove any bubbles on the surface with a spoon or a ladle
• Pour the mixture into 8 ramekins evenly among them
• Place the ramekins in a roasting pan and pour boiling water such that it comes half way through
• Bake until the custards are set, about 40 to 45 min
• Remove the ramekins and refrigerate them uncovered for about 2 hours.
• Before serving, sprinkle 1 tsp sugar over the custard.Tilt and turn around the ramekins so that the sugar is evenly distributed
• Turn on the broiler
• Place the ramekins for a few minutes until it begins to turn into Amber color and a few black spots begin to form.
• Refrigerate it until the crust is hard about half hr
• Serve cold

Lessons learnt-

After sprinkling sugar and before caramelising the sugar, wipe the excess sugar on the rim of the ramekins. If not, the sugar crystals that are on the ridges also caramelize. There is nothing wrong with it but it does not give a clean look to the dish.