cinnamon-honey crème brûlée

There are advantages and disadvantages to having a monthly subscription to Martha Stewart Living. Mostly, there are advantages, like getting each issue a month ahead of schedule, awesome sources of inspiration and yummy recipe ideas. On the other hand, disadvantages include feeling inadequate, untimely and in question of your existence on this earth. Since I tend to like my pleasure with a little pain, I've gotten really into my monthly Martha. All that being said, the April issue arrived about a week ago and of course it's oozing with Easter cheer, including egg decorating ideas (obsessed with the neon string!), Easter basket alternatives and a lovely feature showcasing what else but eggs as the key ingredient to baking recipes, including a cinnamon-honey crème brûlée.

Crème brûlée has always been somewhat of a mystery to me, an intimidating classic that I should have tackled long ago. I have since realized that the right mise-en-scène can make this impressive treat a breeze.

Behold! The most important part to crème brûlée, a crème brûlée dish! Well, you can substitute ramekins, but, if you're like me then you'll probably want to get the real deal. I found these at Crate&Barrel and they are only $3.50 each.

I have to admit that, on it's own, the sound of crème brûlée doesn't send shivers down my spine but leave it to Martha's people to put some new life into it. Love the idea of cinnamon with honey, such a natural sounding combination and why this really caught my eye. The first order of business was to infuse the creamy ingredients of whole milk and heavy cream with the cinnamon flavor.

The recipe called for 4 two inch cinnamon sticks, 3 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk. I combined these ingredients with 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a sauce pan on the stove until the cream and milk began to simmer. Then, I removed the pan from the heat and covered it to steep for 1 hour.

I also liked this crème brûlée recipe because there was plenty of prep-time given that the cinnamon flavor in the creamy ingredients needed to develop for a full hour. I read over the recipe carefully several times and next it advised to pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees and prepare a tea kettle with water to be brought to a boil a little later.

Next up, prepare the crème brûlée dishes or ramekins by setting them in a large roasting pan. I am pretty obsessed with one of the more recent additions to my kitchen stock, this Alclad large roasting pan. Since receiving it as a Christmas gift last year I have roasted vegetables, chickens and pork but had yet to put it to use in a dessert recipe. It's design is perfect for almost any baking recipe that requires a water bath.

Soon, I would be adding the honey factor to this recipe and while Martha called for clover honey, I decided this opportunity called for a trip to my local Jon's grocery store where they have a pretty great honey selection. I know there are many honeys to be had but you certainly can't go wrong in a store where they call out honey on an aisle label. I also like the honey at Jon's because the selection rotates and it comes mainly from local farmers. I was instantly attracted to the beautiful label on this honey from Sarian Honey Farms based in Santa Clarita, CA. Sage blossom honey is light and delicate because it takes a very long time to crystallize and to me has notes of citrus, so I thought it would the perfect choice for the crème brûlée. Fun fact: sage blossom honey is produced mainly in California. I measured out 1/4 cup honey and 1/2 cup of sugar to soon be added to the cream mixture.

With the honey and sugar ready and waiting I moved on to the task of separating eggs. Crème brûlée is basically a custard and therefore requires lots of egg yolks, this recipe called for 9.

After 1 hour I poured the cream mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl and returned it to the sauce pan and stove. I added the 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of sugar, returning the mixture to a simmer to dissolve.

While the cream mixture was brought back up to a simmer I whisked the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the egg yolks.

I turned the tea kettle burner on high to prepare the boiling water and then the fun part! One ladle at a time I whisked the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks and sugar.

After this the custard mixture is poured through a fine sieve one more time before it is ladled into the prepared crème brûlée dishes.

Once the custard mixture was ladled into all 6 dishes I opened the oven all the way first and then very carefully carried the roasting pan over and placed it in the oven. For the water bath, I simply poured the boiling water from the tea kettle into the roasting pan until it came about halfway up the crème brûlée dishes. I shut the oven and baked for about 35 minutes until the center of each crème brûlée had JUST set, you can tell by moving the roasting pan just slightly in the oven and watching for a jelly like movement.

Once set, I very carefully removed the roasting pan from the oven and slowly walked it over to the counter where I would remove the crème brûlée dishes to cool on racks.

Once cool the crème brûlée should be covered in plastic wrap and left to chill in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. You can make the recipe up to this point and keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days before serving, amazing! The signature element to a good crème brûlée is the caramelized sugar top. You can achieve this effect by using a kitchen torch or your oven broiler. With this experience behind me I can tell you that I am buying a kitchen torch for next time, thank you Amazon. I used my broiler since that was conversant this go around and while it did the job and the flavor was amazing it definitely wasn't as pretty as I would have liked. The broiler is a little hard to control since it is one direct line of heat and I had to play around with the placement and length of time, thank goodness I had enough common sense to try one at a time. Before using a broiler or kitchen torch to caramelize I put the crème brûlée in the freezer for 20 minutes, this will help ensure that it is still cold when served.

Martha's recipe added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the sugar topping, so I sprinkled an even, thin layer over the top of the crème brûlée. The recipe suggested about a 1 to 2 minutes under the broiler but beware this was WAY too long under my broiler and it resulted in one burnt and ugly crème brûlée. Next time, I lowered the oven rack a notch and timed about 15-20 seconds while I watched through the oven window. After the first round I removed and added one more thin layer of cinnamon sugar. Back under the broiler it went for another 15-20 seconds, before coming out and being served immediately.

cinnamon-honey crème brûlée

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

4 2in cinnamon sticks

1/4 teaspoon salt

9 large egg yolks (room temp)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

caramelized topping

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pour cream, milk, cinnamon sticks and salt in a sauce pan over medium-high heat until it reaches a simmer. Cover and steep for 1 hour. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees and prepare water to boil in a tea kettle. Place 6 crème brûlée dishes in a roasting pan. Separate eggs and set yolks aside. After 1 hour pour cream mixture through a fine sieve into a large bowl and return to the sauce pan adding 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup sugar. Return pan to stove and bring back to simmer to dissolve. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and then one ladle at a time whisk the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks and sugar. Ladle custard mixture into the crème brûlée dishes and carefully place in oven. Pour boiling water into roasting pan so that the water reaches halfway up the crème brûlée dishes. Bake for about 35 minutes until just set. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven and set the crème brûlée dishes on a wire rack to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Before serving, place crème brûlée in the freezer for 20 minutes and then sprinkle a thin, even layer of cinnamon sugar over the tops. Use a kitchen torch or broiler to caramelize the tops and repeat with one more layer of sugar. Serve immediately.