Without doubt, Crème Brûlée is my.favorite.dessert. Oh, I have other favorites… like pig pick’n cake… just about any pie, and old fashioned warm-from-the-oven banana pudding, but Crème Brûlée gets top billing on my dessert list. I can’t eat a lot of sweet stuff… but it’s a rare circumstance I forego it when I see on a menu where I’m eating. Ordered with spoons for all at the table to share… because sometimes, one dab’ll do me!
I’ve had this idea in my head for a while, and thought when putting together my December recipes, this would be “the” dessert to pair with my Savory Braised Oxtail Stew with Herbs and Prunes and Creamy Rosemary Parmesan Grits.
Just the name alone may cause some to tremble in culinary fear! But in reality, brûlées are rather simple to make and are only custards of one name or the other. And butterscotch? Oh my. Browning sugar and butter in cream… bestill me heart! Balancing out with a bit of flakey salt that crunches right in with the brûlée is all the finishing touch needed for this creamy yumminess.
So #BrûléeToday y’all!
And all the better when you get lucky and realize your sister still has your mama’s decades old custard cups to make them in…
And be sure to come on over to my FB home too… let’s chatabboutit!
This recipe created for and published in Carolina Country Magazine December 2020
Food propping/styling and photography © (copyrighted) by Wendy Perry.
Carolina Country Magazine Contributing Recipes Editor
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Salted Butterscotch Crème Brûlée
Ingredients
- 1 large can evaporated milk
- 12 ounces heavy cream or half-and-half
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 7 large egg yolks, whisked
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- flaky salt
Instructions
- In a heavy pot, bring milk, cream, sugar and butter to a boil. Reduce to medium heat. Watch closely, whisking often as it cooks. When lightly browned (about 15 minutes), remove from heat and let cool a bit.
- Whisk yolks and vanilla together in a bowl. Slowly drizzle into cooled butterscotch mixture while whisking rapidly to temper and prevent “cooking” the egg.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 8 custard cups into a large roasting pan(s). Ladle custard into cups, filling about ⅔ full. Fill roasting pan with hot tap water halfway up sides of the cups. Bake about 25 minutes until slightly “jiggly.”
- Carefully remove cups onto a cooling rack, then put into refrigerator, covered until well chilled (at least 4 hours or overnight).
- Before serving, scatter 2–3 tablespoons of sugar over each custard. Using torch, or under preheated oven broiler, heat until golden brown, watching closely to avoid burning the sugar. Let sit (or chill) at least 30 minutes for sugar to harden.
- Sprinkle with flaky salt and serve cold.
