Classic Crème Brûlée

I did not plan to make crème brûlée last week. I don't even have a funny story as to why I ended up making it. It is pretty straight forward, I bought a carton of heavy cream when it was on sale. I noticed that the best before date was coming up. I took Baked Elements off the shelf and happened upon their classic crème brûlée recipe. Reading through the ingredient lists, I noticed that it allowed me to use up all of the heavy cream. Score!

Classic Crème Brûlée
Recipe adapted from Baked Elements

2 cups of heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 325°F (163°C). Place four 6-ounce ramekins in a small roasting pan or a baking dish with sides higher than your ramekins.
2. Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds with a knife. Pour the heavy cream into a medium saucepan and add in the vanilla seeds and the bean pod. Heat the cream and occasionally stir to prevent a skin from forming on the top. When the cream starts to bubble and boil, remove it from the heat and turn off your stove. Let it cool and steep for 10 minutes.
3. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, and salt together. The mixture should turn a shade lighter in colour and be well combined.
4. Pour a third of the heavy cream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking (the cookbook says not to, and to stir instead, I'll leave this up to you). Continue to add the heavy cream until it is all combined.
5. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a ramekin and carefully pour in the mixture, reaching just below the top. Repeat with the other three ramekins.
6. Take the small roasting pan with the filled ramekins to your oven and set it on the oven rack. Gently pour hot water into the roasting pan - be careful not to get any into the ramekins! The water should reach about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
7. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the custard is set, it'll still be wobbly in the middle. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan filled with water. Set it aside to cool in room temperature. Then cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours). When your oven has cooled, carefully take out the roasting pan and pour the water out.
8. Remove the ramekins 15 minutes before serving. Divide the 3 tablespoons of sugar (you can also try it with dark brown sugar as the cookbook recommends) evenly between the four ramekins and sprinkle it on top. Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar to create a smooth top.

For some reason, my kitchen torch refused to work for me that day. Despite many attempts in refueling it, I don't think any of the butane fuel made it in (yikes). I ended up using a lighter. I do not recommend this. I should have waited for Howard to do it, but I was impatient.

Boy was this crème brûlée smooth! Even smoother than the recipe I tried here. Let's stick to this one from now on!

Our Favourite Cookbooks of the Year

The third time is quite the charm! We're very excited to share with you our favourite cookbooks from this year. There are some stellar new books for bakers and a few outstanding cookbooks from the food blogging community. If you're looking for gift ideas for bakers, cooks, or that friend that instagrams their food, consider these:

Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients
By Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
Photographs by Tina Rupp
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published by Stewart, Tabori and Chang
ISBN 9781584799856

Every time they come out with a new cookbook, we can't help thinking about our visit to their bakery. Their desserts are that good. They're memorable. They're delicious. You're probably familiar with them now that Williams-Sonoma carries a lot of their products. But do pick up their books and try baking from scratch! What are the ten featured ingredients in this book? Peanut Butter, Lemon and Lime, Caramel, Booze, Pumpkin, Malted Milk Powder, Cinnamon, Cheese, Chocolate, and Banana. It's highly likely that you love more than seven of these ingredients. This book has a different design from their previous two, but you'll love the infographics that start each chapter!

Bouchon Bakery
By Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel, with Susie Heller, Matthew McDonald, Michael Ruhlman, and Amy Vogler
Photographs by Deborah Jones
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published by Artisan
ISBN 9781579654351

Who doesn't get distracted walking by a Bouchon bakery case? The gigantic-sized cookies, macarons, éclairs, cupcakes, financiers, bouchons, madelines, tarts, and croissants! And what about the bread they use in the restaurants? They're all in this book. Read the helpful tips and create your own memories at home.

La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for An Inspired Life
By Béatrice Peltre
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published by Roost Books
ISBN 9781590307625

Wow. The photographs in this cookbook are stunning. Just stunning! You may know Béatrice from her blog by the same name, La Tartine Gourmande. This cookbook is such a treat to see, flip through it and you'll get it. Everything Béatrice has captured for us to see is just charming, bright, and fresh.

Macarons: Authentic French Cookie Recipes from the Macaron Cafe
By Cecile Cannone
Paperback, 144 pages
Published by Ulysses Press
ISBN 9781569758205

Having visited Macaron Cafe in NYC, we placed this book on our holiday wishlist last year. Luckily our Secret Santa did deliver and we've made three batches of macarons following the recipe in this book. They've all turned out nicely and it's such a relief to be able to make macarons at home now! The instructions are clear and easy to follow. There are lots of recipes for the fillings and decoration ideas. It's an inspiring book for all!

One Girl Cookies: Recipes for Cakes, Cupcakes, Whoopie Pies, and Cookies from Brooklyn's Beloved Bakery
By Dawn Casale and David Crofton
Photographs by Iain Bagwell
Hardcover, 160 pages
Published by Clarkson Potter
ISBN 9780307720481

The cover had us at whoopie pies. But there's more inside! Orange Butter Drops with Shredded Coconut, Chocolate Coconut Macaroons, Chocolate Chip Pistachio Pound Cake, Banana Whoopie Pies with Dulce de Leche Filling and Milk Pie. We love all of these updated classics! It's about time that we pay them a visit on our next trip to New York!

Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones: 90 Recipes for Making Your Own Ice Cream and Frozen Treats from Bi-Rite Creamery
By Kris Hoogerhyde, Anne Walker, and Dabney Gough
Photography by Paige Green
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published by Ten Speed Press
ISBN 9781607741848

Ice cream! We have not made ice cream yet, but we have good inspiration to now. This puts getting an ice cream machine on the top of our list. The book will help you master the basic techniques like making the base for the ice cream, sugar cones, sorbet, granita, ice pops, ice cream cakes, ice cream pie, and ice cream sandwiches. There are step-by-step photos and tips interspersed between the instructions. Trust us, you'll be craving for their ice cream, even in the middle of winter.

Tartine: The Boxed Set
By Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson
Photographs by France Ruffenach and Eric Wolfinger
Hardcover, 528 pages
Published by Chronicle Books
ISBN 9781452107028

A serious addition to your bookshelves! This is a great box set for those who love to bake. Tartine offers sweet treats and Tartine Bread is famous for their bread in San Francisco. These cookbooks will make you gain a whole new level of respect for pastry chefs and bread bakers. The clear instructions are filled with details, cups and weight measurements are both included, and each recipe includes carefully written kitchen notes with practical advice. Both books are designed with clean, simple lines. The burlap-covered box case adds such charm!

The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook
By Lindsay Landis
Hardcover, 160 pages
Published by Quirk Books
ISBN 9781594745645

If you're thinking that her name is familiar, it's probably because Lindsay is the blogger of Love and Olive Oil. She's come up with the perfect, egg-free cookie dough that tastes great and is easy to make. We were scratching our heads and wondering how a whole cookbook could  possibly feature cookie dough, we were pleasantly surprised. The book features treats such as Cooke Dough Crème Brûlée, Cookie Dough Whoope Pies, Malted Cookie Dough Milkshakes, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, Deep-Fried Cookie Dough Fritters, Cookie Dough Dessert Pizza, and Cookie Dough-Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cupcakes. Oh there's more, but you're probably drooling already. We love the design of the book and Lindsay's photography knocks it out of the park. We're also quite excited to learn that Lindsay's next book, Breakfast For Dinner, will be out next year!

The Seasonal Baker: Easy Recipes from My Home Kitchen to Make Year-Round
By John Barricelli
Photographs by Ben Fink
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published by Clarkson Potter
ISBN 9780307951878

A follow-up to The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook (we featured it in our first list), this one makes a great companion. There are more stories about John and his family, more mouth-watering recipes, and offers savory recipes as well. This book focuses and explains the diversity of fruits and vegetables - when to buy them and how to prepare and store them. Some of the recipes I've already tagged for trying are Brioche French Toast with Vanilla Filling, Caramel-Apple Tart, Lemon Soufflé Tartlets, Asparagus Tart with Herbed Béchamel and Gruyère, and the Ratatouille Hand Pies.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
By Deb Perelman
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published by Appetite
ISBN 9780449015797

You read Deb's blog, don't you? If there were courses in school about food bloggers, Smitten Kitchen would be on a required reading list. What you'll love is her no fuss approach to food and photography. Cooking from her tiny Manhattan kitchen, she's never been a chef, restaurant owner, or even a waitress, but here we are, in love with her recipes!

Click on the year to view our previous lists: 2010, 2011.