Very rarely do I cry during a movie. My eyes might occasionally well up, or I’ll wipe a small tear away before anyone has a chance to notice, but very rarely do I cry a red faced, puffy-eyed, blubbering cry (unless it’s the Six Feet Under finale montage, then all bets are off).
I’m not made of stone, I just don’t enjoy crying. Especially in front of people. If you google “Ugly Crier” that’s totally what I look like. Possibly even worse, and that’s no exaggeration.
Buuuut I watched The Normal Heart last Sunday night. I had just come home from a wonderful lady-date camping adventure, and was so relaxed and in an incredibly good mood. Matt suggested we watch the Normal Heart and I said “Sure! I’ll watch anything! I’m so relaxed and in an incredibly good mood!” (Okay, maybe not in those exact words).
So we watched it. I don’t know what I was expecting, other than how it must be good because it was nominated for all sorts of Emmys, but eeek. I was a big ol’ blubbering FOOL of a baby.
The ones that get me cryin’ are always the ones I least expect.
I wish I had had some of this crème brûlée to comfort me after watching it. I can picture myself, hunched over a bowl of this, sobbing into the caramelized sugar top. Not to make this dessert seem depressing, in any way, but it certainly would have helped! I mean if anything is going to get me out of a crying stupor, it’s sweets.
Crème brûlée in itself is completely delicious, but infusing it with a strong earl grey flavour, well, it’s just so comforting and cozy.
If you’re new to Port and Fin, you might not know that I am in love with earl grey. See here and here. I have a lot of different kinds of it in my tea cupboard, and even though I also have herbal and green teas, I always go for my earl grey. To me, it’s like a hug in a cup. Perfection.
I never realized crème brûlée would be so easy to make! It’s incredibly simple, requiring only some heavy cream, egg yolks, sugar and of course, if you’re like me, earl grey tea leaves.
I promise, it’s not difficult to get such a perfect, bold flavour of the earl grey in this brûlée. Start by heating the cream in a saucepan until scalding. Stir in the loose tea leaves (or bags if you prefer), cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain the cream through a mesh sieve, then continue making the brûlée as you would normally (full recipe below). It gives a lovely, bold earl grey taste to a creamy crème brûlée.
| Earl Grey Crème Brûlée | Print |
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp loose earl grey tea leaves
- 6 egg yolks
- pinch of salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, plus more for topping
- In a saucepan over medium heat, heat cream until just bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in tea leaves; cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain through a mesh sieve, pushing liquid out of tea leaves. Set cream aside.
- Preheat oven to 350° and boil a large kettle of water.
- In a large bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar and salt until combined. Slowly whisk cream mixture into egg mixture and blend well.
- Line a 9x9 baking pan with a dish towel, then place four 4-oz ramekins on top. Fill each ramekin evenly with custard. Pour hot water in the baking dish, creating a water bath, until water sits about halfway up the ramekins.
- Bake 20-25 minutes until custard is set; it should jiggle like Jello when it is done. Remove ramekins from pan and cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill for at least one hour, up to 24 hours.
- Before serving, sprinkle the tops of the custard with a thin, even layer of sugar. Using a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar until it is bubbly and browned. Let cool slightly, then serve immediately.
I think I’m gonna try this later today 😀 Such an easy thing to make and I happen to be an Earl Grey lover to boot!
Earl Grey lovers, unite! It truly is delicious. Let me know how you like it, Vita!