Classic Crème Brûlée and Viking Cooking School

Crème brûlée is French for “burnt cream.” It consists of a rich, traditionally vanilla, custard base with a thin crisp caramelized sugar top, usually served in individual ramekins. My husband and I like to eat it after a nice meal at a upscale restaurant. In fact, I think he ordered it almost every night at dinner on our recent cruise.

When I commented on Tiffany’s (Food Finery) tweet about her making honey crème brûlée that I hadn’t made it before, she offered to come over, bring her torches and teach me how to make it. So Tuesday morning Tiffany and her sweet daughter dropped by and we whipped up her favorite crème brûlée recipe.

Tiffany taught this recipe on Good Things Utah last year and it’s the perfect crème brûlée, smooth and creamy, rich and delicious. She even brought over her favorite vanilla, Sonoma Vanilla Bean Extract Crush. It has such a fabulous flavor we added 2 teaspoons vanilla to the recipe.

I was surprised just how easy this impressive dessert is to make. I think the hardest part was just sprinkling the sugar evenly over the top so it would caramelize evenly. If you haven’t given it a try yet, you should. You should also stop by Food Finery and check out all of Tiffany’s delicious recipes. Thanks Tiffany it’s always fun cooking with you!

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Yield: 6 servings

Classic Crème Brûlée

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 egg yolks
• 1/3 C sugar
• 2 C heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 C sugar (for caramelizing the tops)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Whisk yolks and sugar together until thick and pale yellow. Add cream and vanilla and mix until blended.
3. Strain and skim, then divide among 6 ramekins and place in a baking dish / water bath (in a baking dish, make sure water is half way up the sides of the ramekins... this allows moisture to flow through the oven and keep the custards soft).
4. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the outside edges are set and the center is still loose. Remove from oven and cool in water bath.
5. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. When ready to serve, sprinkle sugar to cover the entire surface of each custard. Fire with a hand held torch until caramelized.

Viking Cooking School

I was recently offered the opportunity to attend a cooking class at the Viking Cooking School with a group of local foodies. The class was From Farm to Table and focused on eating seasonally which allows you to enjoy the ripest and freshest foods at their peak. Buying fresh, locally grown foods is good for the local economy, good for family farmers, and good for your family’s health. Farm-fresh foods are actually higher in nutrients – and taste better.

What I liked best about this class was that it was hands on. We were divided into 3 groups of four, given the ingredients for the recipes and shown techniques that make preparing the recipes easier. I definitely need to sign up for one of their knife skills classes.

To me it sort of felt a bit like a competition, at least I wanted to make sure our tart was the best looking tart of the bunch. And when our cobbler didn’t brown up as quickly as the other groups, Cathie helped me sprinkle on some sugar and let me try out her industrial strength torch to brown up the top. Cathie did a fabulous job teaching the class, sharing her knowledge and making everyone feel comfortable in their beautiful kitchen. If only I had all those gorgeous dishes, appliances, and kitchen tools at home.

Visit the Viking Cooking School and check out all of their great upcoming classes. It would be fun to do as a date night with your hubs or a girls night out.

Pictures courtesy of Tiffany Spegar