Vanilla Creme Brulee

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks for about a minute until they become slightly thickened. Add in the sugar and whisk until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds.

Now pour the cream into the eggs and mix in slowly with a spoon until the mixture is consistent. Bubbles introduced at this stage are hard to remove from the custard, so go easy.

Butter four custard ramekins and evenly divide the custard between them. Tap the ramekins on the countertop to remove bubbles. Now place the four ramekins in a large casserole dish and add cold water to the casserole dish until it comes about ¾ of the way up the side of the ramekins. Try and space the ramekins out so that they cook evenly. Heating the custard in this water bath prevents them from turning into scrambled eggs. Cook for about 45 minutes.

Remove the custards from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes in the water bath. Then cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 48 hours. The custards should be firm, not jiggly if they were cooked long enough and chilled long enough.

Uncover the cold custards and sprinkle evenly with 1 teaspoon of brown sugar per custard. Then use a blow torch to melt the sugar, being sure not to turn the sugar black. If you do not have a blow torch it is possible to make brown sugar discs in the oven.