Maple Creme Brulee

Went to a friend's mom's for Thanksgiving and brought this for dessert. I was calling it "pot de creme" becuase I thought it'd be too cumbersome to add the brulee topping at the mom's apartment and so wasn't going to add it. But once I had cooked the custards, the tops were kind of brown and unappealing-looking, so I called the friend, Julie, and she mentioned she had received a kitchen torch as a wedding present. So we busted it out after dinner; it was fun. Her husband and brother even came into the kitchen to watch and did a couple themselves.

Once I got started on this recipe it ended up being so easy that it only took about 15 minutes of prep time. You put 2 cups heavy cream in a saucepan with 1/2 a vanilla bean that you split and scrape the seeds out of (seeds go into the cream, too). Heat that until the cream's bubbling where it touches the sides of the pan, then remove it from the heat. Meanwhile whisk 1 egg, 3 yolks and 7 tablespoons maple syrup (the recipe called for grade B, which is more flavorful, but all I had was grade A; I just measured a scant half-cup). Then slowly pour in the cream, whisking to keep it from cooking the eggs. Pour that mixture through a fine strainer into a container with a pouring spout. Place eight 4-ounce ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet, divide the mixture among the ramekins, place in a 325 degree oven and add hot water to the rimmed baking sheet to create a waterbath. It's supposed to take 40 minutes to cook. I turned on the convection feature, which the recipe said would take the same amount of time but would protect the custard from the direct heat coming from the bottom of the oven. When I checked on it after 35 minutes, the tops were getting brown and one of the custards was actually bubbling! I took them out right away, and the texture ended up being fine (except for the unsightly brown tops). But it freaked me out that I had ruined them. Put them in the fridge overnight (or at least two hours). Right before you're ready to serve, pat the moisture off the top, add about a tablespoon of sugar to the top of each one and spread evenly, then torch away (or put them under the broiler) until the top is brown and hard.

I had put the 1/2 vanilla pod that got strained out of the cream mixture in a jarful of sugar, and that's the sugar we used for the brulee. The vanilla made it smell like we were toasting marshmallows as we torched the tops. It was good stuff, though. Silky with a crunchy top and a faint flavor of maple in the custard.