Something Sweet for Your Telluride Valentine

There’s a reason that nearly every high-end restaurant in town has crème brûlée on the dessert menu: It’s gooooood. But now, thanks to Chef Bud Thomas, you don’t have to go out every time you get a craving for custard. Thomas hosted a cooking show at the Wilkinson Public Library on Feb. 1, demonstrating how to prepare crème brûlée just in time to surprise someone you love on Valentine’s Day.
So this year, don’t just carry a torch for that special someone—use it. The scorched sugar topping requires this special piece of kitchen equipment, but besides the torch, the recipe is simple enough. Here’s Bud’s recipe and a video showing how to prepare it:

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Vanilla Crème Brûlée

1 quart cream
1 vanilla bean
2/3 cup sugar
1 pinch Kosher Salt
10 egg yolks
8 teaspoons turbinado sugar (for burning on the tops)

1. Preheat oven to 300°. Place a kitchen towel on the bottom of high sided baking dish or roasting pan and arrange eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins on the towel; set aside. Bring a kettle of water to a boil over high heat.

2. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean. Combine the vanilla seeds, vanilla bean pod, cream, granulated sugar, and salt together in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

3. Whisk the yolks together in a large bowl until uniform. Whisk about 1 cup of the cream mixture into the yolks until loosened and combined; repeat with 1 more cup of the cream. Add the remaining cream and whisk until thoroughly combined. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a 2-quart measuring cup or pitcher, discarding the solids. Pour the mixture evenly into the ramekins.

4. Gently place the baking dish with the ramekins on the oven rack. Pour the boiling water into the baking dish, being careful not to splash any water into the ramekins, until the water reaches two-thirds the height of the ramekins. Bake until the centers of the custards are just barely set and are no longer sloshy (30 to 35 minutes). A thermometer inserted in the centers should register 170 degrees. Begin checking the temperature about 5 minutes before the recommended time.

5. Once cooled, wrap each ramekin tightly in plastic and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

6. To Serve: Unwrap the ramekins; if condensation has collected on the custards, place a paper towel on the surface to soak up the moisture. Sprinkle each custard with about 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar and then tilt and tap the ramekin until the sugar covers the entire top surface evenly. Ignite a torch and caramelize the sugar by holding the end of the flame about 1 inch from the surface of the custard until the sugar melts, then burns to a golden brown. Turn the ramekin and continue until the entire surface is deeply golden brown and hard.

Notes:
– Two teaspoons of vanilla extract, whisked into the yolks, can be substituted for the vanilla bean.
– I also suggest getting a proper propane torch from the hardware store. Crème Brûlée kits are available, but I have not yet found one that works better than a standard propane torch.