Bake
Black Bottom Crème Brûlée
- Prep time 25 minutes
- Cook time 55 minutes
- Serves 6
Author Notes
As if crème brûlée, a beloved baked custard with a crackly caramelized sugar top, wasn’t decadent enough. Meet the version boasting a “black bottom” of silky bittersweet chocolate ganache. This extra layer will definitely bake your brûlée up a notch, but it’s easy to do! Just two ingredients make up the ganache, which is poured into the base of a ramekin, and spread into an even layer. The custard is poured on top and baked to just-set perfection. Crème brûlée is known as a popular make-ahead dessert because the whole thing can be refrigerated after cooling and brûléed just before serving. However, the ganache layer hidden inside makes this custard uniquely delicious if served warm or at room temperature, shortly after baking—so both the chocolate and the custard are similar creamy textures. If you still want to make these ahead of time, you can warm the ganache base just before serving. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet, and heat a kettle of boiling water. Pour the hot water into the baking pan, allowing it to come about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Let sit for 10 minutes. The ganache should be perfectly softened, and you can finish and brûlée the custards. (Excerpted from The Fearless Baker (2017) by Erin Jeanne McDowell.) —Erin Jeanne McDowell
Ingredients
- For the ganache:
-
6 ounces
(170 grams) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
-
1/3 cup
(80 grams) heavy cream
- For the crème brûlée:
-
2 1/4 cups
(530 grams) heavy cream, divided
-
1
vanilla bean, split lengthwise
-
1 cup
(198 grams) granulated sugar
-
1/4 teaspoon
(1 gram) fine sea salt
-
4
large (85 grams) egg yolks
-
1/4 cup
(50 grams) granulated sugar
Directions
- For the ganache:
- Place the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil over medium heat. Pour the hour cream over the chocolate and let sit, undisturbed for 15 to 20 seconds, then stir beginning in the center of the bowl with small circular motions, and widening the circles until the ingredients are uniformly combined and the ganache is smooth.
- For the crème brûlée:
- Place six (6-ounce / ¾ cup) ramekins (preferably wide/shallow ramekins rather than taller, deeper ones) or other individual baking dishes on a baking sheet. Spoon about 3 tablespoons (about 40 grams) of the ganache into each ramekin and use a small offset spatula or the back of a teaspoon to spread it into a fairly even layer in the base of the dish. Let the ganache stand at room temperature until set.
- Meanwhile, prepare the custard: preheat the oven to 325°F/165°C with an oven rack in the center. Heat a large kettle of water until barely simmering (you can use a pot, but it’s a lot easier to pour from a kettle).
- Combine ¾ cup (176 grams) heavy cream with the sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean, and add the seeds and pod to the pan, and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.
- Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a medium heatproof bowl. When the cream mixture has come to a simmer, carefully fish out the vanilla pod and slowly pour the hot liquid into the yolks in a thin, steady stream, whisking constantly. Whisk in the remaining 1 ½ cups (355 grams) cream, mixing well.
- Bake the custard: Transfer the custard to a container with a spout and pour it into the ganache-lined ramekins, filling each one to just below the rim. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven. Carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the baking sheet to come about one third of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the custards are set at the edges, but still jiggly in the center, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove the custards from the water bath and cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
- Caramelize the tops: Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons (8 grams) granulated sugar over each cooled custard. Tap and tilt the ramekin to help coat the surface evenly with sugar. Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. At first it will melt, then it will begin to brown—aim for an even, all-over amber color. Serve immediately.
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