Chocolate and vanilla crème brûlée

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 350 g Chocolate ganache
• 2 125 ml whole milk
• 3 125 ml liquid cream
• 4 ½ vanilla pod
• 5 30 g caster sugar
• 6 3 egg yolks
• 7 4 tablespoons caster sugar
• Total weight: 752 grams

Times:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
49 min.	20 min.	50 min.	1 hour 59 min.

Step by step recipe

• 1:

  Prepare the ganache

  Prepare 350 g Chocolate ganache.
• 2: As soon as it is ready and while still hot, divide it evenly between the crème brulée dishes.
  Put to wait in the fridge.
• 3:

  Prepare the vanilla cream

  Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C).
  Put into a saucepan: 125 ml whole milk, 125 ml liquid cream and ½ vanilla pod with its seeds scraped out.
  Bring to the boil on medium heat, then turn off the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
• 4: Put 30 g caster sugar and 3 egg yolks into a mixing bowl.
• 5: Mix thoroughly.
• 6: Then pour in the infused milk while stirring.
• 7: Mix thoroughly.
• 8: Clean the saucepan, then pour the vanilla-flavoured mixture back in through a fine strainer.
• 9: Put the saucepan back on low heat and stir constantly while the custard thickens to "coating" consistency (you can leave a mark with your finger on the back of a wooden spatula or soft spatula, as shown in the photo.
• 10: Stand the saucepan in cold water to cool the custard rapidly.
• 11: When cooled, pour the custard as a second layer on top of the ganache.

  Cooking

  Method 1: stand the dishes in a larger dish or tray on a sheet of paper (optional). Pour boiling water around the dishes before putting in the oven.
• 12: Method 2: stand the dishes in an oven tray filled with boiling water.
• 13: Leave to cook for about 30 minutes until the vanilla custard is set.
  Take the dishes out of the oven and leave to cool, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight, covered with plastic film, so that the custard is really cold.
• 14:

  Caramelize the tops

  This is THE tricky moment: burning...
  Sprinkle a tablespoonful of sugar evenly on top of the custard, then burn it as shown in this short demonstration video.
  Note: the best tool for melting the sugar is a blow-lamp. If you don't have one, see below how to use your grill.
• 15: You should end up with the famous thin brown crust all over the surface of the custard.
• 16: Put the crème brûlée back in the fridge for about 30 minutes for the caramel to harden and the custard to become cold again.
  Reheat the crust a few seconds before serving your guests with the perfect crème brulée: chocolate ganache, cold creamy custard and a crust of hot, crunchy caramel.

Remarks

As I said, the perfect crème brûlée (for me) is a soft, cold custard with a thin, hot, brown and crunchy crust. Here are some tips:

• Proceed in two stages: caramelize the tops and refrigerate for about half an hour to cool. Just before serving, re-heat with the blowlamp for just a few seconds.
• It's easier to get a good crust if you use white sugar rather than brown, but it's a matter of taste.

If you do not have a blowlamp, you can try using your grill (broiler): stand the dishes in the grill pan (or a deep, solid baking tray), add cold water to half the depth of the dishes, and put under the grill for just one or two minutes (maximum) to caramelize the sugar. The cold water protects the custard against the heat, but it's very difficult because the grill is always too hot.

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