ARCHIVE: Creme Brulee

• 6 egg yolks
  
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  

• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream

Servings: 5

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Beat egg yolks, white sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.
3. Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately. Pour a little of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture and whisking briskly, pour the cream/yolk mixture into the rest of the cream and whisk. There will be a lot of foam on the top. Skim this off with a strainer and throw away. 
4. Pour the hot mixture into individual serving dishes or ramekins and place in a baking dish. Set the dish with the ramekins in it on your oven shelf, then pour hot water in the dish so the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake at 375 anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. They are done when you shake the dish gently and the brulees jiggle just slightly in the middle. The jiggle shouldn't be a liquid jiggle, but more of a gelatin-like jiggle. 
5. Remove from oven and let the brulees cool in the water bath for about 15 minutes, then remove and put the brulees in the refrigerator to chill. Just before serving, sprinkle the tops with white granulated sugar and shake off the excess. Place under broiler to caramelized or use a propane torch to burn the tops. Serve immediately.