port wine cranberry creme brulee

With the third installment of the fall flavors series I’m turning my attention to dessert by making a port wine cranberry creme brulee. It has taken me some practice to make a good creme brulee and I feel like I’m still learning, but this came out quite well.

hardware

medium saucepan
medium mixing bowl
6 ramekins (7 to 8 ounce in size)
large cake or roasting pan
measuring cups and spoons
whisk, strainer (or sieve) and other assorted utensils

software

3 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1 teaspoon extract)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar, divided evenly
6 large egg yolks
1 cup port wine cranberry sauce
2 quarts hot water

assemblage

preheat oven to 325 degrees
combine the vanilla bean and pulp, cardamom and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium high heat and scald (warm to the touch, but not to the point of boiling)
mix the eggs yolks with a 1/2 cup of sugar and whisk until well blended and the yolks are a light, creamy yellow
remove the vanilla bean from the scalded cream by straining it through a sieve into a large measuring cup and temper the creamed egg yolk mixture by adding just a little bit of the cream at a time (this brings the temperature of the egg yolks up so that they don’t curdle in the hot cream), then whisk vigorously until totally combined
strain the cream base again this time to remove any bits of cranberry that didn’t get obliterated when it was blended, then divide the liquid between the ramekins
place the cake or roasting pan on the oven rack and pour the hot water in the cake or roasting pan
set the ramekins gently in the pan and make sure the hot water comes about half way up the sides of the ramekins
bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the center of the creme brulee is set, but not firm
remove the ramekins from the pan and cool in the refrigerator for at least two hours and up to three days

presentation

remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you plan on caramelizing the sugar on top. divide the second 1/2 cup of sugar and spread out evenly. using a torch or the broiler, melt the sugar until it is a crispy and golden brown. give the creme brulee about five minutes to rest after browning the sugar before serving.

if you wanted to make it a little fancier, you could reserve a little of the port wine cranberry sauce before it was pureed smooth as a topping and finish it off with a mint leaf for effect.

* in the video you’ll note that I said 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom, but that was based on an earlier version of this recipe and I have instead substituted that with 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.