Creme Brûlée - French goodness for ANY cuisine

The rich and creamy Creme Brûlée with its crunchy caramelized top layer is a perfect way to end any meal. Though traditionally french, this creamy goodness has made its way into eateries around the world. With the right kitchen tools, Creme Brûlée is easy to whip up at home. And, with few variations, it can accompany any cuisine.

My favorite flavors are vanilla, cardamom, and matcha Creme Brûlée, and they are delicious with variety of toppings.

Here's a brief recipe to show how you can incorporate the flavors. I have included a link at the end to an online video for detailed steps and measurements.

Recipe:

1. Beat egg yolks and sugar into a mixing bowl until thoroughly mixed and creamy. Place aside until Step 3.

2. Next, add desired flavor (details below) to heavy whipping cream and simmer the mixture on medium heat. Here's how to add some of my favorite flavors:

Vanilla: Use a paring knife to slice a vanilla bean and scrape the seeds. Add the seeds and the bean to the heavy whipping cream. Remove the bean before the next step.

Cardamom: Use mortar and pestle or a rolling pin to open about 10-15 cardamom pods. Separate the seeds from the pod. Blend the cardamom seeds into a fine powder and add this powder to the heavy whipping cream.

Matcha: Mix half a teaspoon of matcha powder (or two tea bags) to heavy whipping cream. If using tea bags, remove the bags before the next step.

3. Remove the flavored heavy whipping cream from heat before it starts boiling. Next, gradually add the flavored heavy whipping cream to the egg and sugar mixture from Step 1. Continue whisking as you add the cream.

4. Strain the egg and cream mixture to remove vanilla or cardamom seeds that didn't mix. Next, pour the mixture into ramekins. You want to fill each ramekin about three quarters of the way.

5. Place ramekins into a baking pan. Next, pour hot water into the baking pan - creating a water bath that covers bottom half of the ramekins. Bake the mixture for about 30 minutes at 300F in a pre-heated oven.

6. Once baked, bring the creme brûlée to room temperature. Next, chill them in the refrigerator for at least four hours.

7. When ready to serve, add a layer of sugar to the chilled Creme Brûlée and caramelize the sugar using a butane kitchen torch. Detailed instructions are in the video suggested below.

AND VOILA, your Creme Brûlée is ready! Add your favorite berries, ice cream, or shredded coconut to complement the creamy and crunchy goodness.

There are so many other variations this goodness can handle. Some flavors I plan to try next are coconut and cookie crunch.

Online recipe suggestion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2hxl5Nu5iU