Today I got around to buying Jim's Christmas gift. (I abhor holidays,
but if I've got to celebrate them, it makes no sense to me to do it on
the holiday itself.) He loves gadgets so I got him one of those kitchen
torches for melting sugar on creme brulee. I wasn't sure he liked it
when I brought it home, but later in the evening, he was suggesting that
we might make creme brulee so he must have been into the idea. I order
creme brulee in restaurants all the time but have never attempted it at
home. I used the recipe in Silver Palate Cookbook. The directions were
easy to follow. Everything turned out as it should as far as the
custard and baking in a water bath. (I love the idea of creme brulee.
How could you make cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla taste bad? The recipe
is a sure winner.) (Instead of using all vanilla, we made 3 ramekins,
one with vanilla, one with Grand Marnier and one with cognac.)


We chilled it for several hours then got to play with the new toy. The
recipe calls for brown sugar sifted on top. After several tries, all we
got was burnt sugar. We carefully tapped it off and tried again with
white sugar. You'd think this was easy, but I'm asking for advice. In
restaurants, the sugar comes out a perfect sheet of light brown heavenly
sweetness with yummy richness underneath. We've got the rich custard,
now how do we get the sugar on top? Using the torch, we couldn't get it
right. Brown sugar burned. White sugar formed little ugly brown lumps.
We tried the broiler. Watching it every second, we still got burnt
lumps. Help! Is there a trick to this?


--Lia

On Wed, 18 Jan 2006 22:07:47 -0500, Julia Altshuler wrote:
>
> We chilled it for several hours then got to play with the new toy. The
> recipe calls for brown sugar sifted on top. After several tries, all we
> got was burnt sugar. We carefully tapped it off and tried again with
> white sugar. You'd think this was easy, but I'm asking for advice. In
> restaurants, the sugar comes out a perfect sheet of light brown heavenly
> sweetness with yummy richness underneath. We've got the rich custard,
> now how do we get the sugar on top? Using the torch, we couldn't get it
> right. Brown sugar burned. White sugar formed little ugly brown lumps.
> We tried the broiler. Watching it every second, we still got burnt
> lumps. Help! Is there a trick to this?
>
No tricks, just an even hand...
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/p...0032_rec02.asp

This one suggests tubinado sugar (bigger granules).
http://frenchfood.about.com/cs/desse...mebrulee_2.htm

Good Luck!
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

Julia Altshuler wrote:
>
> Today I got around to buying Jim's Christmas gift. (I abhor holidays,
> but if I've got to celebrate them, it makes no sense to me to do it on
> the holiday itself.) He loves gadgets so I got him one of those kitchen
> torches for melting sugar on creme brulee. I wasn't sure he liked it
> when I brought it home, but later in the evening, he was suggesting that
> we might make creme brulee so he must have been into the idea. I order
> creme brulee in restaurants all the time but have never attempted it at
> home. I used the recipe in Silver Palate Cookbook. The directions were
> easy to follow. Everything turned out as it should as far as the
> custard and baking in a water bath. (I love the idea of creme brulee.
> How could you make cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla taste bad? The recipe
> is a sure winner.) (Instead of using all vanilla, we made 3 ramekins,
> one with vanilla, one with Grand Marnier and one with cognac.)
>
>
> We chilled it for several hours then got to play with the new toy. The
> recipe calls for brown sugar sifted on top. After several tries, all we
> got was burnt sugar. We carefully tapped it off and tried again with
> white sugar. You'd think this was easy, but I'm asking for advice. In
> restaurants, the sugar comes out a perfect sheet of light brown heavenly
> sweetness with yummy richness underneath. We've got the rich custard,
> now how do we get the sugar on top? Using the torch, we couldn't get it
> right. Brown sugar burned. White sugar formed little ugly brown lumps.
> We tried the broiler. Watching it every second, we still got burnt
> lumps. Help! Is there a trick to this?

Move fast and keep it up off the sugar. Don't dwell in any one place for
more than a fraction of a second. Keep the torch moving. A hardware
store Bernzomatic would be better because the flame is bigger adn wider.
The little flames from kitchen torches are too fine and come to a small
point.

If you're getting lumps, you're heating the sugars too hot too fast.

Pastorio

Alton Brown did a show on vanilla recently and included
creme brulee', and the putz was picking up the ramekins
and doing this by turning them in his hand.

DON'T DO THAT!

The blue part of that flame is over a thousand degrees, and
one slip will have that going into your palm or fingers.

Guaranteed hospital trip; probable loss of all skin on the
burned area, possible necrotic flesh problems; all of the
attendant infections, amputations, etc.

Dumbest thing I've seen anyone do blithely on the TV in
years (and I've seen people making speeches supporting
Republicans...)

--Blair

Thanks for the help. Much as we love creme brulee, the recipe made 6
portions which lasts a long time around here so I haven't tried the not
too long in one spot method. And thanks for the heads up about not
holding the ramekin in my hand. I would never have thought of doing
anything so bone-headed, but it is still nice to have the warning.


--Lia

Julia Altshuler wrote on 20 Jan 2006 in rec.food.cooking

> Thanks for the help. Much as we love creme brulee, the recipe made 6
> portions which lasts a long time around here so I haven't tried the not
> too long in one spot method. And thanks for the heads up about not
> holding the ramekin in my hand. I would never have thought of doing
> anything so bone-headed, but it is still nice to have the warning.
>
>
> --Lia
>
>

For practice roast a red bell pepper with your torch...should help you to
learn better control.

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.