Creme Brulee

I used heavy cream in both my pumpkin cheesecake and my mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, but I  bought one carton too many. Since my family is pretty traditional Chinese so they never use heavy cream in recipes, it was pretty likely that the extra carton would be thrown out unless I figured out something to do with it.

I decided to attempt one of my favorite simple desserts: creme brulee. So I read some recipes from Alton Brown and the Pioneer Woman for general directions and then downsized their proportions relative to my 1 cup of heavy cream that I wanted to use up. This can feed 2-4 people, depending on how much each person is willing to share. It was enough to fit into two small glass pyrex containers (I had no ramekins). My mom, my sister, and I split one, while my dad ate the entire other one because he liked it so much. And thank god that it tasted good. I burned my finger last night while making this, so I would be even more pissed had this turned out horribly

Separate two eggs. Reserve egg whites for a separately use (I like to take 2 egg whites and add a whole egg to use for omelets). 

Whisk together egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar until mixture is light yellow. 

On the stove, warm a cup of heavy cream until it is steaming. Pour heavy cream in some kind of pitcher cup (so that cream can be poured out in a smooth stream). Gather your dexterity and slowly stream the heavy cream into the egg mixture while simultaneously using the wire whisk to mix quickly with the other hand. You want to whisk quickly so that the cream doesn't cook the egg custard.

Pour into ramekins or small oven-safe glass bowls and place bowls in a cake pan. Fill cake pan approx halfway with hot water. Bake in the oven at 325F for approx 45 minutes until set. The center should be barely quivering.

Sprinkle the top with a thin layer of sugar, then return the creme brulee to the oven. Turn the broiler on and watch them carefully until the top has caramelized. I burned my fingers taking them out :/ (You can also use a blowtorch in this step, but who owns a blowtorch?) Refrigerate overnight and dig in!

Would I make this again? Definitely

P.S. I'm getting a DSLR for my combined birthday/Christmas/Chinese New Years present, yeyuh. The picture quality on this blog should soon improve dramatically.