Crème Brûlée (aka Trinity Cream)
It’s probably my favorite dessert, so any excuse for crème brûlée is a good one in my book. The feast day of any French saint will do, but somehow the torching part makes it seem perfect for Saint Joan. Also, the fact that multiple nineteenth-century recipe books refer to crème brûlée as “Trinity Cream” or “Trinity Burnt Cream” means we’d be SILLY not to make this amazing dessert part of our Trinity Sunday celebration. (According to recipe historians—a real job, apparently—the name “Trinity” Cream is a reference to its three main ingredients: cream, sugar, and egg yolks.) This is a slightly fussier recipe than I’m up for on an every-day basis, but that’s the beauty of liturgical living for me. I can get motivated to do a fancy feast day meal for an important solemnity every month or two. THAT I can manage. And Crème Brûlée/Trinity Cream can be made ahead of time, which is always a bonus. But, just in case it’s helpful . . . last time I checked, they sell little individual crème brûlées in the freezer section at Trader Joe’s.
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 5 egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar more for topping
- Note: after separating eggs the whites can be refrigerated or frozen for use in another recipe
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 325° F. In a saucepan, combine the cream and salt and cook over low heat just until hot. Add the vanilla extract. Start water boiling for a “bain-marie.”
- In a mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light-colored. Very slowly pour one-half cup of the hot cream into the yolk-sugar mixture with the mixer on low. (This is called “tempering” and it’s to keep us from accidentally making scrambled eggs.) Pour the yolk-sugar-cream mixture into the rest of the cream and mix to create the custard. If you see any bits of cooked egg, strain the custard through a mesh sieve. Pour the custard into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill the dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the dishes (this cooking method is called a “bain-marie”).
- Note: It’s usual to cook these in individual serving dishes. However, I have sometimes made up to a triple-recipe and cooked the custard all together in one large serving dish, and I didn’t get any complaints!
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the centers are barely set (look for a “wobble”). Cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours, up to a couple of days.
- When it’s time to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer. Place ramekins in a broiler 2 to 3 inches from the heat source. Turn on the broiler. If you’re like me, you’ll need to be reminded: Do not leave the broiler. Cook until the sugar melts and browns or even blackens a bit, about 5 minutes. Serve as soon as possible after broiling.
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