red velvet crème brulée

Omg you guys.  Seriously.

I made you Red Velvet Crème Brulée.

Fer realz.

I kept seeing everyone post red velvet recipes for Valentine's Day, and feeling a little left out, my brain whined, "heyyyy, I wanna play..."  So, I pouted and thought about the dark chocolate créme brulée I was planning on making.  And then... and THEN...

I totally dreamed about it one night.  I woke up euphoric, knowing that I had just dreamed up something freakin' awesome.  Something that I couldn't recall, then finally remembered after 3 days of slowly turning into a crazed maniac.  I just looove when that happens.


Not.  

I made a couple of batches to make sure the flavors were all there.  I could also phrase that as: I-made-more-than-one-batch-so-that-I-could-eat-more-because-it-is-so-dadgum-good-and-I-licked-every-bowl-clean-and-wish-I-had-more-right-now.

Don't even act like I didn't sprinkle on more sugar halfway through so I could have more caramel-y burnt sugar to tap through.

I know yesterday I was talking a teeny bit of smack about Valentine's Day.  But don't worry.  We made up.  So, if you're looking for the ultimate V-Day dessert, this is it.

Red and pink.  Hearts.  Red velvet.  Boom.

Sprinkle on some powdered sugar to make it fancier!

Red Velvet Crème Brulée for Two
makes 2 servings

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Ingredients:
1 1/2  ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar, divided, plus more for topping
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 vanilla bean, split
2-3 drops red food coloring (I used Americolor Super Red gel)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the remaining tablespoon of sugar, heavy cream, buttermilk, and split vanilla bean to a simmer.  Once the mixture starts to get foamy, remove from heat.  Take out the vanilla bean halves and scrape out the seeds, adding the seeds back to the mixture.  Pour the mixture over the chopped chocolate and let sit for one minute.  Gently stir until the chocolate is completely melted.

Slowly pour half of the chocolate mixture into the eggs while whisking.  Continue to whisk, and slowly pour in the remaining chocolate mixture.

Add 2 drops of the red food coloring and whisk.  Add another drop if needed.

Strain the custard into a spouted measuring cup.  Evenly divide the custard between two ramekins.

Place the ramekins into a baking dish.  Pour boiling water into the baking dish until the water comes up to about the custard level.

Bake 25-60 minutes (depending on the size of the ramekin), or until the custard is set (it should still be jiggly in the center).  Remove the baking dish from the oven and let the ramekins cool in the water bath.

Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours.

Once chilled, sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on the top of each custard.  Using a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar.  (If you don’t have a kitchen torch, place the ramekins under the broiler until the sugar is caramelized, keeping a close eye on them.)  Let sit about 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Source: heavily adapted from Not So Humble Pie

Liiiiiick