I had every intention of skipping this week’s French Fridays with Dorie because I didn’t think I’d have enough time to make it. Then I checked the schedule and saw that it was Cheesy Crème Brûlée and well, I found myself heading right to the store to pick up supplies.
I love crème brûlée and I love cheese, so this was quite the alluring combination for me. But, because it is all cheesy and creamy, I did opt to only make about a third of the recipe. This was roughly one egg yolk, 3/4 cup half and half (which I subbed for the whole milk and cream to make it a bit easier) and about 1.7 oz of cheese (a mix of Parmesan and cheddar). I used a very short, wide crème brûlée dish and it ended up being the perfect size to share.
Other changes I made: I added about 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard to the custard and for the topping cheese, I mixed in a little smoked paprika and more freshly ground black pepper.
I had some troubles getting mine to set at such a low oven temperature (mostly due to my impatience for dinner on a Wednesday night). After about 40 minutes at 200 degrees F, I gave up, took the brûlée out, cranked the oven up to 300 degrees, put the brûlée back in, and then promptly forgot about it for about 10 minutes. Doh! It was a little curdle-y but not a huge deal. Still delicious! Next time, I think I may just start at 300 degrees, bake it in a water bath, and check it after 20 minutes or so. I just don’t think I am patient enough to bake something at 200 degrees.
I also opted to use the broiler to top the cheese instead of a torch. I was just envisioning blackened, burnt cheese otherwise.
Aside from all the tweaking, I thought this one was great! We had ours warm for dinner (what’s not to love about warm cheese?), with a huge (HUGE!) salad of baby kale and some wine. Definitely a keeper. Here’s a link to everyone’s FFwD posts this week.
Ah, water bath… brilliant and crackers as a spread that would have been better for me. Straight up was too rich for my taste.
Mmm, on crackers. Nice! I really wish I’d gone the higher temp route – this took forever at 200 degrees! lol But it turned out delicious, so I guess that’s alright. Oh, this was so good. Yours looks fantastic, and I’m so sprinkling paprika over mine next time!
I like the addition of the mustard and paprika, I’ll bet the flavor was excellent. I thought a 200 degree oven was
too low but I started out that way and then kicked it up to 300. These were really good and I think most people
liked them.
I love mustard with eggs and cheese. Great idea! I definitely need to let my cheese brown longer when I finish the last two brulees. This was truly delicious. Of course, what’s not to love about cheese?
Mustard was a great addition – it looks like yours came out beautifully.
I think many of us turned up the heat at the end 🙂
I love the addition of the mustard! I’m sure it complemented the eggs and cheese perfectly. Yours looks perfect!! have a great weekend!
Waterbath. Higher temp. Cheese and crackers. All to my liking. Yours looks wonderful. I definitely would grate all my cheese next time and cook it definitely – like you did. And, I would go for more crust. Even if yours was a mistake of forgetting, it was a good forget. See you in Seattle.
I like that you added dijon mustard and some smoked paprika; I bet Dorie would appreciate your tinkering, too. It sure has a great look to it. I’ve been reading that the 200 degree oven wasn’t the best. It seems 300 is better from several posts. Since I inadvertently made the spinach this week instead of the brulee (I followed the voting list), I will reap the benefits from everyone’s experience when I make it at the end of the month.