Creme Brulee

Directions

1. In a bowl place the egg yolks and sugar and whisk until fully combined and a pale yellow.
2. In a saucepan heat the cream with the vanilla and rum to 140° – 160º or until it begins to gently bubble, remove from heat and let cool slightly. Using a ladle slowly add about 2 ounces of the cream to the egg yolks in a gentle stream whisking constantly to temper eggs. Once you have combined add another ladle and continue to whisk gently. The eggs should be tempered by the second addition so you can pour the rest of the cream in and gently stir to combine. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the mixture into another bowl.
3. At this point you need to remove all the air bubbles from the custard by either straining the surface with a spoon or using your blow torch burn the bubbles off the surface lightly.
4. Ladle the custard into ramekins and place in a pan large enough to accommodate all the ramekins with a water bath coming up about half way on the ramekins. Bake at 325° for about 35 minutes, until the custards are set and only slightly wiggly in the centers. Remove from pan let cool for a few moments and then place into the refrigerator for a few hours to finish setting.
5. Remove from the refrigerator about ½ an hour before you are going to serve. Sprinkle about 2 Tbs of Demerara sugar over the top and shake to evenly spread over the top of the custard. Using a torch melt the sugar, wait a few seconds and melt a second time to burn a few spots of the sugar to give it the slightly bitter flavor of burnt sugar.