Crème Brûlée

Servings: 8
Active prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour
8-10 cups water
1 qt. heavy cream
1 cup + 8 tsp sugar
2 vanilla beans, halved and seeded
10 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 300°. Bring water to boil; keep warm. In 2-qt. saucepan, heat cream, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla beans over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat once mixture comes to a simmer.

Put egg yolks in large stainless steel bowl. While beating yolks with whisk, slowly pour hot mixture over yolks until fully incorporated.

Strain through sieve and pour into 8 ramekins. Place ramekins on large roasting pan. Place pan on middle rack of oven. Pour hot water into pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until custards are fully set, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and water bath. Let cool. Cover and chill for 8 hours, or up to 3 days.

To serve, pat each custard with paper towel to remove moisture; coat with thin layer of sugar. Burn sugar with blowtorch or on a rack on a sheetpan under broiler until sugar is mahogany in color.