Blueberry Creme Brulee

Like Laura at The Cooking Photographer says...this is the best crème brûlée ever!  And guess what?  It's really simple to make {love when that happens!}.  I think the thing that makes this so incredible is the brown sugar sauce on the bottom...combined with the yummy fruit throughout.  This was our second time making this dessert...the first time, we used blackberries and the second time, the grocery store was out, so we used blueberries and I love both!  I think you could easily substitute the fruit with any favorite..raspberries and strawberries would definitely work!

Now ladies...I'm not even going to tryyy and pretend my pictures are nearly as great as Laura's, but she is the "cooking photographer" afterall-so give a sister a break!  :)  Oh and a word of warning...this takes 4 hours to set, so be sure to allow plenty of time.  Here's the delicious recipe:

Special tools you’ll need are 8 four-ounce ramekins, a fine mesh sieve (strainer) and a torch of some kind.  {P.S. like Laura...I also used my husband's torch!}

• 2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• About 1 cup or so fresh or frozen blackberries
• 8 teaspoons dark brown sugar, divided
• Sugar for brûlée

1. Place 8 four-ounce ramekins in a metal 9x13-inch pan. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and set a kettle of water to boil.

2. Place the heavy cream in a 3 quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring often until just the point of boiling. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl whisk together egg yolks, 2/3 cup sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Whisking the entire time, slowly pour about 1 cup of the hot heavy cream into the egg mixture. Then pour the egg mixture into the heavy cream while whisking.

4. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large clean bowl. Place 1 teaspoon brown sugar into each ramekin. Place blackberries over brown sugar so they are nearly touching, but not packed. Slowly ladle cream mixture evenly into the ramekins, scraping all of it out of the bowl with a spatula.

5. Pull the oven rack out about half way and place the pan on it. Pour the hot water into the pan until it’s about half way up the ramekins. Bake for 35 minutes. Custards should be mainly set around the edges, but the center will still be jiggly.

6. Carefully move the custards to a cooling rack. Once cool, move to the refrigerator and chill for at least four hours.

7. To Brûlée: Sprinkle custard tops with about a teaspoon of granulated sugar and torch with fire until deeply golden brown pulling back the torch as needed so the sugar doesn’t char.

This brûlée is truly and wonderfully out of this world!  I've never felt so fancy eating a dessert, and I love knowing it's super easy to make!

Hope you enjoy!  Bon Appetit!

xo natasha

{P.S. Don't forget to enter my very first giveaway here!}

Linked to: Tasty Tuesdays