Secret Recipe Club: Chai Tea Creme Brulee

This is the first time I am taking part in Amanda's Cookin' Secret Recipe Club. This is a blog task in which we are challenged to choose a recipe from an assigned blog we are given. 

I was given the delightful opportunity to be given the blog of  Carolyn's,  All Day I Dream About Food. After being diagnosed with pre-diabetes, she took on the role of sharing with the world many fabulous recipes that are low carb and/or gluten free.

After much browsing through Carolyn's blog and drooling all over my computer (yes, her blog is truly drool worthy!) I chose to recreate her Chai Tea Creme Brulee.  I've tried making creme brulee once before and it was a massive failure.  Still, it is one of the recipes I chose to make before I die ( see that post here) and her recipe would give me the opportunity to have a success this time... plus it gave me the chance to use some of my cherished black tea that I brought home from Africa.  While Carolyn's original recipe includes erythritol and stevia, I adjusted the recipe to use regular sugar as I was unable to find erythritol.

Chai Tea Creme Brulee
adapted from here at All Day I Dream About Food
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp loose black tea
1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp ground cinnamon)
1 tsp coarsely ground cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tablespoon raw sugar

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F.
Heat cream, tea, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves in a small saucepan over medium low heat, until steam rises. Remove from heat, cover the pan and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove all solids and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar together until thickened and pale yellow. Add cream very slowly, stirring continuously. Add in vanilla.

Divide custard between 4 small ramekins (or a single one-quart ceramic or glass baking dish). Set into a larger baking pan and pour hot water to within 1-inch from top of ramekins or baking dish.

 

Bake until the custard is just set but still slightly wobbly in the middle, 40-45 minutes. Remove baking pan from the oven and let cool. Then wrap each ramekin tightly in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.

Just before serving, divide raw sugar over tops of creme brulee, sprinkling across the top evenly. Heat with a kitchen torch until it bubbles and browns. Let sit for a few minutes to allow topping to harden. You can also brown the topping under your broiler, watching very carefully and turning the cups to ensure even browning.


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