Earl grey crème brulée

We kept postponing due to conflicting schedules, but Evan managed to finally drop by my new place for a long overdue baking session. We had planned to have brunch and make crème brulée together (something that we've not much experience at making so far).

 Earl grey crème brulée

I've only previously attempted to make crème brulée once a coupla years ago and it failed terribly. I probably overbaked the custard and did everything wrong possible cos the "crème" bit of the crème brulée was totally hard jello-like. :/

I was excited to try my hand at it again cos really, I so love another excuse to whip out my blowtorch. That and imagining the "crack" of the crème brulée's hardened sugar crust. Oh yeah baby...

I had bookmarked a recipe for a tea flavoured crème brulée, and we decided to modify it slightly to use some earl grey tea bags I had in the house. I swear this is the most intense earl grey flavoured dessert I've ever made to date. The flavour was simply fantastic. Strong, aromatic and hits you pow-wow in the face. We baked it to the right (almost perfect) consistency and it was like flavoured pudding underneath the thin crackly sugar crust layer.

The recipe yielded about five small servings. We both tried the dessert the next day(s) after and both of us agreed that it was was really good. I love this and will probably make this again in a nutshell. I reckon this is gonna be a great sweet dessert for a special dinner or even a small afternoon tea party as it is quite easy to prepare ahead. Add in some chilling time in the fridge and a quick torch for the crust and you're good to go. Now, that's only possible if you've not tasted it by yourself before your guests arrive just yet. Cos I can't guarantee that you'll want to share this really awesome treat with anyone else...

Earl grey crème brulée (adapted from Karen at Citrus and Candy)
120ml milk
200ml pouring cream (35% fat)
4 bags of earl grey tea (adjust depending on how strong you like it)
6 egg yolks
70g caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla bean extract
caster sugar

Preheat oven to 140°C. In a pot, gently bring the milk, cream and tea bags to a boil and allow to brew for around 15 minutes. While the cream is on the heat, add the sugar to the yolks, whisk until it’s combined.
Now pop a kettle of water on.
Take out the tea bags, (be sure to squeeze out the teabags into the milk for a more intense flavour!) add the vanilla and pour in a slow and steady stream into the egg mix, whisking constantly to prevent it from cooking.
Divide mixture into 5 ramekins and place in a baking tray. Pour the freshly boiled water from your kettle into your baking tray slowly until the water comes up halfway on the ramekins. Bake for 15-20 minutes (I baked mine for 17.5 minutes) depending on how flat your ramekins are. The middle should have the slightest of quiver when it’s ready.
Take the ramekins out of the water and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes. If you’re not serving straight away, stick it in the fridge.
Sprinkle an even layer of sugar and go ahead and be crazy with the blowtorch. Serve immediately.