Coffee Creme Brûlée

I’m fancy. Oh, I’m fancy. Because I made creme brûlée. At home. From scratch. And it was delicious.

Here’s my silky smooth, simple but chic recipe for coffee creme brûlée.

Ingredients:

(This recipe makes enough for about 3 people, depending on the size of your ramekins):

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup + 4 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder (I used 1.5 single-serve packages)

sprinkle of cinnamon

1 egg

3 egg yolks

Get a large sauce pan and combine the cream, 1/2 cup of sugar, a dash of cinnamon and instant coffee powder. Bring it to a boil, whisking to combine and dissolve everything. Once it’s come to a boil, remove the pan from heat and cover it for 30 minutes.

Then you need to strain it. If you have a sieve, that’s perfect. If you don’t, you can use a colander and coffee filters. It works- I tried it.

Preheat the oven to 325 and whisk your eggs and egg whites in a medium or large bowl. Add some of the cream mixture, whisk it a bit, add some more cream mixture, whisk again, and repeat until fully combined.

Find a baking dish with high sides and place the large ramekins or custard cups in it. You’ll need to add water, so that the ramekins are in a water bath. The water should be about half way up the side of the ramekins. Divide the custard mixture into the ramekins and bake for 55 minutes. You can tell they are done because the middle will barely move when you jiggle the cups a bit.

Cool and refrigerate (overnight, ideally).

Everyone knows that the best part of creme brûlée is the sugary shell on top, and there are two ways to achieve it. The first requires a blow torch (not something this single 20-something woman has handy) so I went with the broiler method.

Start by sprinkling about 1 teaspoon of sugar on top of each creme brûlée. Turn on the broiler and put all the creme brulees on a baking sheet. Place them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, rotating if necessary for even cooking. Remove from the oven, cool for about 30 minutes, and enjoy!