Creme Brulee

This is the very best creme brulee I've ever had. Ever. Beats any restaurant. And that includes the one I had in Paris. As in Paris, France, the home of amazing confections. The creme brulee in Paris was served cold, and that really is not the very best way to serve it. According to Chef Peon, (the fantastic pastry chef who's notes on this recipe from AllRecipes.com made ALL the difference in the world) part of the tastiness of creme brulee comes from the contrast of the cold creme and the hot, crunchy sugar crust. If you re-chill it after you torch the top, the top will soften again as it chills. So the very best way to serve it is immediately after caramelizing the sugar on top, to contrast the hot and the cold, the smooth and the crunchy. There's my discourse on dessert. Thanks to Cookalot who submitted this recipe on AllRecipes.com, its never failed me yet.

• 6 egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons white sugar, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Beat egg yolks, 4 tablespoons sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.
3. Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately
4. After pouring a little of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture and whisking briskly, pour the cream/yolk mixture into the rest of the cream and whisk. There will be a lot of foam on the top. Skim this off with a strainer and throw away.
5. Pour the hot mixture into individual serving dishes or ramekins and place in a baking dish. Set the dish with the ramekins in it on your oven shelf, then pour hot water in the dish so the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
6. Bake at 375 anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. They are done when you shake the dish gently and the brulees jiggle just slightly in the middle. The jiggle shouldn't be a liquid jiggle, but more of a gelatin-like jiggle.
7. Remove from oven and let the brulees cool in the water bath for about 15 minutes, then remove and put the brulees in the refrigerator to chill completely.
8. Just before serving, sprinkle the tops with white granulated sugar and shake off the excess. Place under broiler til caramelized or use a propane torch to burn the tops. Serve immediately.
   

*a note. This serves 5. If you want to adjust it for different amounts, say you want to make 8, you can go to AllRecipes.com, find the original recipe and there is a feature that allows you to change servings. It will adjust the amount of ingredients, but not the directions. And I've incorporated Chef Peon's comments into my directions here so they are not identical to the directions you will read there. So be careful of that. Also, I have made this a day ahead, I stick them in the freezer, I pull them out about 10 minutes before I want to broil the top and I've never had a problem.