Creme Brulee (France)

      Now lets be honest, there is a hierarchy when it comes to the culinary world.  You know it, I know it, everybody knows.  And this hierarchy is positively overloaded with dishes that are primarily French, and at the top of the top rests what the culinary world has dubbed time and time again as the king of all desserts... Creme Brulee.
      Although intimidating at first, this dessert is actually really simple in nature.  The dish is a mixture of eggs and sugar which has been mixed with heated cream.  The intimidating part is the caramelized sugar bruleed over the cooked custard giving it the signature golden brown color.
     Now when I first started catering I always had clients who would request the dish, but unfortunately the cost was something that I could never get around.  Then it hit me like a five pound bag of sugar to the cranium.  Canape spoons are oven safe and can actually stand up to the heat of a kitchen torch; that and they give you a portion which is small enough that you can give up your guilt for indulging your taste buds.

Creme Brulee Canapes

1 vanilla bean

2 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for the topping

6 egg yolks

Split the vanilla  bean in half lengthwise scape the seed into a medium sized saucepan.  Chop the been into little pieces and add that to the pan with the cream.  Bring the contents of the pan to boiling, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer on low for five minutes.

In a large bowl combine the sugar and egg yolks (see Note 1*) mix until well blended.  Slowly pour the hot cream into the egg mixture whisking constantly while doing so. Continue to whisk after all of the cream has been added to the eggs for 2 minutes. Pass the egg mixture through a fine strainer and discard the vanilla bean pieces before continuing. 

At this time you can either divide the mixture between 30 wide mouth canape spoons or 8 ramekins.  Place the intended dishes into a shallow roasting tray.  Pour boiling water into the roasting half way up the sides of the dishes.  Place in a 325* oven and bake for 35-40 minutes just until the custard has set. 

Remove the custard from the oven and top each dish with a just enough reserved sugar so make a light layer.  Using a torch heat the sugar until it turns golden brown (see Note 2*).

Makes 30 canapes or 8 normal sized servings.

**Note 1: be sure to use a heat proof bowl when combing the eggs and cream, otherwise you could possibly end up with scrambled eggs.

**Note 2: If you do not have a torch you can still create the caramelized sugar topping with the broiler of your oven, however be weary as the broiler will turn the topping black very quickly.