Creme Brulee – two ways
It’s a well known fact. Hubby’s favorite dessert is Creme Brulee. Any time we go to a restaurant that has it, he orders it. And he’s not much of a dessert guy (if you can believe that). Since I’ve never made creme brulee, and I have a creme brulee kit, AND it’s hubby’s favorite, I had to put it on my list of things to do before my next birthday. I was especially encouraged when I saw all the TWD-ers make creme brulee a couple months ago.
Since all we had in the house was cream and not milk, I needed a recipe that used all cream. Luckily the recipe that came in my kit only used cream. It is not a very fussy recipe at all and makes the perfect amount for the 4 ramekins that came in the kit.
Of course, creme brulee is NOT lactose intolerant friendly. So I decided to use some evaporated goat’s milk in half of the batch. I randomly came across this evaporated goat’s milk at Target one afternoon. I grabbed 3 cans. It says on the can that can be substituted 1:1 for heavy cream. (In case you didn’t know, most people who are lactose intolerant, like me, can digest goat milk and sheep milk but not cow milk. Luckily all that stuff is easy to find here in Boston.)
So I made a half batch of the creme brulee for each of us. So we each got 2 ramekins. I didn’t go crazy with flavors, although I did steep a 1/2 vanilla bean in my batch. This helped me to identify which ones were safe for me to eat because of the specks (and I LOVE vanilla).
Hubby was very excited to learn I had made creme brulee for him. We went to torch up the sugar and realized that the creme brulee torch did not come with butane. DANGIT! So we tried the broiler method and it worked okay but not great – hence the burnt sugar shown in the picture…
Creme Brulee – from butane torch manufacturer – makes 4x 4oz ramekins
1 cup heavy cream – I used evaporated goat milk for my batch
2 Tbsp plus additional 1/3 cup sugar
2 extra large or jumbo egg yolks – ok, I read the recipe wrong and used whole eggs instead of just the yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract – for my half, I steeped a vanilla bean in the milk
Preheat oven to 300. Prepare some boiling water.
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and 2 Tbs sugar; cook, stirring occasionally until small bubbles appear around the edges of pan, 5-6 minutes. Set aside.
In a bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth and light. Pour hot cream mixture into egg yolks, a little at a time, beating continuously until well blended. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Divide mixture among 4 ramekins.
Arrange ramekins in a baking pan and place on the middle shelf of preheated oven. Fill pan with boiling water to halfway up sides of ramekins. Cover pan loosely with foil (I didn’t do this_. Bake until custard is just set, about 25 minutes. Chill 2-3 hours.
Sprinkle with remaining sugar evenly over top of cooled custards. With the kitchen torch, move the flame continuously over the surface of the ramekins, in a circular motion until sugar melts and becomes golden brown and bubble. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later use.
And the best part of this adventure is that I get to check another thing off my list. Go ME!
1 Order Denver trip plane tix by 12/31
2 Order Europe trip plane tix
3 Start kitchen remodel
4 Make creme brulee
5 Work out 3x/wk for 6 wks (one / two / three / four / five / six)
6 Eat no french fries for a month (and I LOVE french fries)
7 Read my D40 manual, and start applying what I’m learning from it – started
8 Finish the major craft project I started 2 years ago
9 Go to a dr about my wrist
10 Send baked goods to family/friends (one / two / three) – started
11 Read 1 book/month (Jan / Feb / Mar / Apr / May / June) – started
12 Learn to ski
13 Plan/Host a girls night (in or out)
13.5 Send at least 5 birthday cards (one / two / three / four / five) – started
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
What an awesome way to feature goat cheese in a dessert! I never thought of turning it into a chocolate mousse – sounds like I need to try this soon. 🙂
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:51 am
You definitely should. I know goat cheese isn’t for everyone, but we really enjoyed the subtle flavor in the mousse.
Jen, I love everything about this tart – from the chocolate crust to the mousse and the pretty strawberries on top. Yum! Enjoy your birthday month 🙂
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:52 am
Thanks for humoring me on the whole birthday month thing 🙂
Ohhh lalalalala, I totally dig this dessert even more because it has goat cheese and strawberries…some of my fave foods!! Happy Birthday month…you better party and eat like it’s your birthday!!
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 1:52 pm
Oh I’m definitely going to party like it’s my birthday! All month long 🙂
oh yes to the goat cheese in this tart! fabulous. happy birthday month 🙂 you might need to make this a few more times to celebrate?!
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
Oh I have been baking plenty of deliciousness this month to celebrate 🙂 You know how hard it is to repeat recipes…
Love the idea of incorporating goat cheese in a dessert- I have never seen it down with chocolate before. I will definitely be trying this soon as I have some goat cheese in my fridge waiting to be used 🙂
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 7:20 am
Oh yea, goat cheese and chocolate go really well together.
Oh my, the use of goat cheese in this is phenomenal! I would love to try it!
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 8:46 am
Definitely do! And you could top it with any fruit you like. I think raspberries would be good too.
Chocolate must work great with goat cheese since they’re both utterly delicious!! This recipe looks magnificent omg I think I would be able to eat the whole tart by myself *-*
Goat cheese is one of my favorite ingredients to use in desserts, and your tart looks soooo delicious! Thanks for sharing =) Definitely a must try this summer.
Oh wow this is gorgeous! I love this recipe, I bet it tastes heavenly!
I just finished making my second one for this week…we love it…it is so smooth and rich and well D E L I C I O U S!!!…my grandson requested the second one but truth be told I was gonna make it anyway…the bittersweet chocolate and the cocoa in the crust are what make it….if anyone out there hasn’t tried it do so you will be in love….
beantownbaker — June 25th, 2013 @ 5:38 pm
So glad you’ve enjoyed it! I definitely need to make this again. I have already made it with raspberries but want to try blackberries next.
you wont believe it but I made this AGAIN yesterday…I did a play on bananas foster on the top…it was a hit with my company…and good recipes for sweets for the 4th?..lol….
beantownbaker — July 3rd, 2013 @ 5:02 pm
Wow – bananas foster on top. I would never have thought of that! I am making this tart and this strawberry shortcake for the 4th.
So sinful and delicious looking 🙂
Holy yumminess. I never thought of putting goat cheese in. My mouth is watering at the thought. Strawberries are my absolute favorite berry of all time. I will have to for sure try this recipe, Got it saved to my personal file. thank you.
I love chocolate mousse and I love goat cheese, so clearly I need to make this!
Also, there is strawberry picking (not sure it is organic though if that matters) up here near Oxford. I can get you the info for next year if driving up here is not a problem (I imagine it depends on what side of Cinci you live 🙂 ).
beantownbaker — August 4th, 2013 @ 6:44 pm
I definitely don’t mind driving for freshly picked strawberries!!
I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this recipe! It’s hard to beat mixing tangy goat cheese with chocolate and berries. What a unique recipe!
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
It tastes as good as it sounds! I hope you try it.
WOW! What a wonderful recipe! Definitely one of my new favorites! Happy birthday month!
Does this go in the fridge covered or uncovered and how long does it last? Thanks!