Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 Cup milk
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Cup Sugar
6 Egg Yolks
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350º.
Lets begin by removing the vanilla “caviar”. Place Bourbon Vanilla Bean on cutting board and carefully split lengthwise, then use knife to scrape out the tiny little seeds.
In a sauce pot, add the milk and cream. Stir in the vanilla caviar and toss in the empty pod. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then strain through a mesh sieve into a measuring cup.
In a mixing bowl add the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of your sugar and whisk until it is very pale yellow.
Now you need to temper your mixture. Add 1/3 cup of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks and sugar. Beat continuously as you do this. This will warm up your egg mixture without scrambling your eggs. Then add the rest of the cream mixture, stirring vigorously as you do.
Next we want to divide the mixture between six ramekins that have been placed in a pan where water can reach half way up the sides of the ramekins.
Pour boiling hot water into pan to reach half way up the sides of the ramekins.
Carefully place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes turning pan halfway through cooking time.
After 30 minutes jiggle the plan to see if the custard has set. If it has remove and cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.
Now comes the fun part! Time to brûlée! Divide and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the set/chilled custard. You can use a brûlée torch or you can use your oven in broil mode. Either way, keep a VERY close eye on the sugar as it melts and caramelizes. It can go from gorgeous to burnt in a second!
Enjoy!