Cinnamon & Orange Infused Crème Brûlée

I've been wanting to make a flavored crème brûlée for a while now.  And finally did it!

I thought cinnamon and orange would be nice, simple flavors to start with.  So I searched around and found this.  I did decide to leave the sachet of thyme out.  Mainly because I didn't have any, partially because I wasn't ready to go that far yet. 

Crème brûlée recipes are fairly simple as far as ingredients go: cream, egg yolk, sugar, flavoring.  That's it.  I was worried if I put any crazy flavorings in (purees and such) that it would mess up the delicate balance of cream and yolk to make the custard a mess.  So this method was great.  Maybe I'll play around with other flavoring techniques in the future. ;)

Start by putting the cream, orange zest, cinnamon stick, and half the sugar in a pan on medium low heat.  Instead of using an orange zester (which is perfectly fine) I used a vegetable peeler to have wider strips of the zest.  This made straining the cream much easier and didn't leave out any flavor. Bring to just boiling and allow to cool a little bit.

In a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks, the remaining sugar, and the vanilla.

When the cream mixture is cooler (doesn't have to be room temperature, can still be warm) strain out the orange zest and cinnamon stick.

Slowly, add all the cream mixture to the egg mixture (especially slower if the cream mixture is still rather warm...we don't want scrambled eggs.)

Divide the mixture among 6 (6oz) crème brûlée dishes which are all on one pan with sides.

As you are putting the pan in the oven pour hot water into the pan until the water is halfway up the side of each dish.  This allows the custard to cook slowly.

Let the dishes cool on a wire rack for about an hour.  Then place them in the refrigerator to chill.

Right before serving sprinkle the top of each custard with turbinado sugar (or you can use regular granulated sugar).  Carefully spread it around so it's a very thin layer, but covers all the custard.

You can caramelize the sugar using a regular blow torch (kinda scares me) or a kitchen torch like I use.  It should get nice and brown, smooth, and glossy. Be careful not to burn it though. Blech.

When you put your spoon in the top should make a nice cracking sound, but the custard should be smooth and creamy, yet hold it's shape.

Let's eat!

Cinnamon & Orange Infused Crème Brûlée

3 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, removed in wide strips with a peeler
1 cinnamon stick
6 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-6 Tablespoons Turbinado sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. In a saucepan, combine the cream, half the sugar, the orange zest, and cinnamon stick. Whisk to combine. Bring the mixture just barely to a boil, then remove from the heat and let cool. (This will infuse the flavors of the zest and the cinnamon into the cream.)

3. Whisk together the egg yolks, remaining sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl. Slowly strain the cooled infused cream into the egg mixture and whisk to combine.

4. Arrange 6 wide, flat 6-ounce ramekins (with 1-inch sides) in a large baking dish or roasting pan. Carefully fill the ramekins with the custard mixture (I like to use a ladle to do this). As you are putting the pan into the oven add hot water to the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

5. Bake until the custard is set around the edges and slightly jiggly in the center but not liquid, about 35 minutes.

6. Carefully remove the pan from the oven, remove the ramekins and chill the custards completely, at least 1 hour.

Dust the top of each custard with an even layer of turbinado sugar and burn the sugar with a blowtorch. The sugar will harden, turn brown and become crunchy. Torch the custards just before serving.

Adapted from The Food Network’s Anne Burrell’s Cinnamon and Orange CremeBrulee