The Duke of Orleans loved to eat. He was famous for his monstrous appetite and love for cooking. At his residence, he hosted grand dinners, at which crème brûlée was also served. This recipe was recorded in the chef François Massialot’ cookbook, who was in charge of the Duke of Orleans’ kitchen. This gives the French the right to claim authorship of this dessert. Most of all, the Duke of Orleans loved to break the caramel crust that covered the crème brûlée with a small golden spoon. A thin crust burst with a pleasant crunch and a defencelessly tender velvety cream opened under it. The Duke of Orleans has long been forgotten, but the sacred mystery between people and crème brûlée continues to live its own life 🙂
The Duke of Orleans loved to eat. He was famous for his monstrous appetite and love for cooking. At his residence, he hosted grand dinners, at which crème brûlée was also served. This recipe was recorded in the chef François Massialot’ cookbook, who was in charge of the Duke of Orleans’ kitchen. This gives the French the right to claim authorship of this dessert. Most of all, the Duke of Orleans loved to break the caramel crust that covered the crème brûlée with a small golden spoon. A thin crust burst with a pleasant crunch and a defencelessly tender velvety cream opened under it. The Duke of Orleans has long been forgotten, but the sacred mystery between people and crème brûlée continues to live its own life 🙂- Prep time: 20 minutes + 3-4 hours’ chilling
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Serves: 8
- Difficulty: medium
- Course: dessert
- Cookware: ramekins, kitchen blowtorch, fine sieve
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- 8 egg yolks
- 200 g icing sugar
- 800 ml double cream
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla paste
For the caramel crust:
- 50 g icing sugar
Cooking method
Step 1
Heat the oven to 160˚С. Beat together the egg yolks and icing sugar until white. Set aside. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthways. Scrape out the seeds from each half with a knife. Put the cream with vanilla pod and seeds or vanilla paste in a saucepan. Gently bring the cream to a simmer, but do not boil.
Step 2
Straining through a fine sieve, slowly pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a whisk as you do so. Transfer the mixture to a bain-marie and cook the custard whisking constantly. The custard should thicken considerably, but be still liquid, and a thin film should adhere to a metal spoon dipped into the custard.
Step 3
Pour the custard into ramekins. Place the ramekins in a deep roasting tin, and half-fill the tin with hot water. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The ready crème brûlée should wobble like a jelly.
Step 4
Chill the crème brûlée in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. During this time, it will cool completely. Before serving, sprinkle each crème brûlée with icing sugar or fine brown sugar, and caramelise with a blowtorch until golden brown. If you don’t have a blowtorch, then place crème brûlée under the grill. To do this, place the ramekins in a deep roasting tin, and half-fill the tin with cold water and ice cubes to prevent the crème brûlée from heating up.
My tips and tricks:
If you still don’t have special crème brûlée ramekins, I know the way out! You can use ordinary thick-walled porcelain or ceramic cups instead. And also, it will be much more convenient if you make the dessert the day before serving it and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
- 8 egg yolks
- 200 g icing sugar
- 800 ml double cream
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla paste
- For the caramel crust:
- 50 g icing sugar
- Heat the oven to 160˚С. Beat together the egg yolks and icing sugar until white. Set aside. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthways. Scrape out the seeds from each half with a knife. Put the cream with vanilla pod and seeds or vanilla paste in a saucepan. Gently bring the cream to a simmer, but do not boil.
- Straining through a fine sieve, slowly pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a whisk as you do so. Transfer the mixture to a bain-marie and cook the custard whisking constantly. The custard should thicken considerably, but be still liquid, and a thin film should adhere to a metal spoon dipped into the custard.
- Pour the custard into ramekins. Place the ramekins in a deep roasting tin, and half-fill the tin with hot water. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The ready crème brûlée should wobble like a jelly.
- Chill the crème brûlée in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. During this time, it will cool completely. Before serving, sprinkle each crème brûlée with icing sugar or fine brown sugar, and caramelise with a blowtorch until golden brown. If you don’t have a blowtorch, then place crème brûlée under the grill. To do this, place the ramekins in a deep roasting tin, and half-fill the tin with cold water and ice cubes to prevent the crème brûlée from heating up.