Monday, August 4, 2014

Single Serving Crème Brûlée {Gluten Free}

All the decadence and indulgence of a crème brûlée in a single serving portion for a personal treat!
Decadent and indulgent single serving crème brûlée from Anyonita Nibbles #glutenfree #Frenchdesserts #dessert

Yield: 1
Prep time:
Cook time:

Single Serving Crème Brûlée

Ever since the arrival of my kitchen blowtorch, the word brûlée has taken over my vocabulary, thoughts and dreams. I've been dreaming about the heady scent of pure hot flame. When I enter my kitchen, I've started doing what I've (until this moment kept a secret) deemed the "brûlée shuffle": feet shuffling across the lino, arms in the air, wrists snapping like the quick clap of a flamenco dancer's castanets, I shout, "Brûlée!" and cross the threshold.

A spoonful of golden and indulgent #glutenfree crème brûlée from Anyonita Nibbles
And how could I not? Until you personally discover the transformative, possessive powers of a kitchen blowtorch, you won't know this rapturous wonder. It is as if I have discovered fire. And I guess, in a way, I have. ... There are certain foods, foods that have had the power to stop me in my tracks, to make the world fall deaf around me at the very first taste. Foods where the memory of my first taste has stuck with me and become a part of me. Crème brûlée is one of them.

crème brûlée with neon colors

It was the closing dish of some disastrous Valentine's Day date from college: the restaurant was bad, the company was even worse, but a little Valentine's Day special dessert for two meant the entire evening wasn't a wash. Just the agonizing 98 minutes before the crème brûlée arrived at the table. My date and I took our spoons and cracked through the caramelized top, dug in and listened for that satisfying schlooooook. That pull of moist, creamy custard being sucked away from the vacuum of the dish. For the next three minutes, I indulgently moaned my way through more than my half of the dessert, occasionally swatting at his spoon and becoming entirely territorial over this nectar, this soothing balm for my romantic maladies. We parted that night, he dropped me back out front of my dorm and all but burnt rubber, peeling away from the curb. I wasn't offended; to this day, I don't even remember his name. All I know is that he was the giver of the brûlée and I thank him, whoever he is; wherever he is, for that.

crème brûlée with a dark and decadent caramel from Anyonita Nibbles

There's a certain romance to this dessert. As it did when I was college, it has the tendency to crop up on Valentine's Day. To present itself as being one of the most romantic desserts, what with the anticipation of cracking the shell and reveling in the creamy, milky decadent sublayer. Personally, I struggle to share a dessert this good with anyone. I always do. The thought of missing out on any of it, is too dreadful. I'd much rather eat more than my share and have my date burn rubber to get away from me than share this beauty.

Bake the crème brûlée for 40 minutes and then chill for 2 hours. From Anyonita Nibbles
A cooked crème brûlée ready to be chilled.
So, more than five years later, that's why I made this single serving crème brûlée. I made it, ate it and washed the dishes before my husband returned from work and my kid came back from nursery. I ate it sitting on the living room floor in complete silence, with a gentle summer breeze blowing through an open window. Blissful. The way a decadent dessert for one should be. The way crème brûlée should be.

Top quality vanilla from Euro Vanille
EuroVanille, purveyors of fine vanilla, kindly provided the vanilla for this recipe.

Ingredients:

For the single serving crème brûlée
1 bourbon vanilla pod's seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
2 egg yolks
100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) double (heavy) cream
demerara sugar



Golden and decadent, spoonful of crème brûlée from Anyonita Nibbles


Single Serving Crème Brûlée

Instructions:


  1. Preheat the oven to 150c /300f.
  2. Boil a kettle of water. 
  3. Slice the vanilla pod lengthways and use the back of your knife to scrape out the seeds. Place the vanilla seeds in a pot with the cream and vanilla extract and bring to the boil.
  4. Whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar in a small bowl.
  5. Pour, ever so slowly, the boiled cream over the egg mixture a little at a time, whisking all the time.
  6. Scoop off any froth that forms and pour the mix into a ramekin placed inside of a baking tray.
  7. Pour the boiled water around the outside of the ramekin so that it comes halfway up the dish, making a bain-marie.
  8. Bake for 40 minutes or until the crème is set very wobbly at the center.
  9. Remove the ramekin from the bain-marie and leave to cool on the counter for five minutes. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
  10. Sprinkle demarara sugar over the surface of the brûlée after it has chilled. Burn the sugar with a blowtorch to caramelize it. If you do not have a blowtorch, place the sugared brûlée under a very hot grill or broiler. 
  11. Kick your shoes off, get comfy, slow down and savor in this absolutely sumptuous and divine dessert.   
All that's left of a signle serving crème brûlée from Anyonita Nibbles

9 comments:

  1. That looks really good. Good to the last drop.

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  2. I'll take 5 of these...thanks! :)

    Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!

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  3. Great story ... and recipe! :)

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  4. Thanks so much for linking up at The Wednesday Roundup Link Party! OHHHH MY YUM!!! I love creme brûlée and now with this single serving recipe... oh boy!!!!!

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  5. What a fabulous gluten-free idea! I love how you have made the Crème Brûlée into single servings! Outstanding recipe and such simple directions!!

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  6. Creme Brulee is hands down my all time favorite dessert! I love that you made this single serving recipe. I can't wait to indulge!

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  7. Your backstory is hiiilarious!! And completely describes what happens when I eat creme brulee as well :) Such euphoria!

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  8. love single serve desserts this sounds so super yummy
    come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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  9. Yum I love Creme brûlée and would like to try a gluten free version. Thanks for the recipe, will definitely be trying it #bakeoftheweek

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