Vanilla
Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Crème Brûlée
Crème brûlée the Vanille Désiré way: silky cream infused with Madagascar Bourbon vanilla and a torch-caramelized sugar crust.
- Prep 15 min
- Cooking 35 min
- Total 50 min
- Serves 6
- Difficulty Facile
Méthode
Préparation
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Preheat the oven to 95°C, conventional heat. Arrange 6 ramekins (10-12 cm diameter, 3 cm deep) in a large deep baking dish.
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Split the vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife. Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan, add the seeds and split pods, bring to a simmer (do not boil).
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Turn off the heat, cover, and let infuse for 15 minutes off the heat. The longer the infusion, the more fragrant the cream will be.
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In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the 80 g of sugar and the pinch of fleur de sel until the mixture pales slightly, without whipping it into foam (foam creates bubbles during baking).
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Remove the pods from the infused cream. Pour the hot cream in a thin stream over the yolks, stirring gently with a whisk, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any lumps.
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Divide the cream among the ramekins. Pour hot water into the baking dish up to halfway up the ramekins to create a water bath.
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Bake for 35 to 40 minutes: the cream should be set at the edges and tremble slightly at the centre, like a soft jelly. At 95°C the cooking is slow but the texture comes out perfect, with no bubbles and no graininess.
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Take the ramekins out of the water bath, let cool for 30 minutes, then cover with cling film touching the surface and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
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Just before serving, sprinkle 10 g of brown sugar in a thin, even layer over each cream. Caramelize with a kitchen torch, keeping the flame 3-4 cm from the surface, in circular movements, until you get a uniform amber caramel.
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Let the caramel set for 1 minute before serving. The crust should crack cleanly under the spoon.
Astuce du chef
Le petit plus qui change tout
For an even more aromatic cream, infuse the pods in the cold cream the day before in the fridge (12 h), then bring to a simmer the next day. This double infusion, cold then hot, releases rounder, woodier notes. Autumn variation: add 1 cm of a Madagascar cinnamon stick to the infusion. For serving a large table, prepare the creams 48 h ahead: they keep perfectly, covered with cling film, in the fridge. Only caramelize the sugar at the very last moment: 5 minutes after the torch, the moisture in the cream starts to soften the crust. Storage: 3 days in the fridge, without the caramel.
Questions fréquentes
À propos de cette recette
Can you make a crème brûlée without a torch?
Yes, by putting the ramekins 2-3 minutes under the oven grill at full power, as close to the element as possible. Watch constantly: the caramel goes from golden to burnt in a few seconds. The result is less clean than with a torch but still very acceptable.
Why does my cream have bubbles or a grainy texture?
The baking was too hot (above 100°C) or the eggs were whipped too much. At 95°C in a water bath, coagulation is slow and the texture stays silky. If your oven runs hot, lower it to 90°C and add 10 minutes.
How many beans do you really need for 6 people?
Two plump Bourbon beans (16-18 cm) are plenty for 50 cl of cream. With a Pompona XXL vanilla, stronger in fruity notes, a single bean is enough. Avoid dry supermarket beans, which force you to use three or four.
Can the beans be reused after infusing?
Absolutely. Rinse them, dry them, then bury them in a jar of caster sugar for 2 weeks to make your own homemade vanilla sugar. You can also dry them in the oven at 60°C and grind them into powder.
