Eggnog Creme Brulee

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."

-Oprah Winfrey

It's New Years Day. May this year I get it together enough to post recipes while they're still relevant.

This is dessert for our Christmas dinner every year. My husband and I both love creme brulee, and eggnog, so it's perfect. Delicious, creamy, rich, luxurious and elegant. All words that come to mind to describe this tasty dessert.

ready for the oven

 
Christmas dinner is just my husband and I, but this dessert is perfect to serve dinner guests.

1. You make it in advance. Just brulee the tops before serving.

2. And the most important:  I've never met anyone who didn't like creme brulee.

3. It's pretty darned easy too, and only calls for a few ingredients.

So if you have some egg nog left in the fridge, here's a great use for it!

Outside of Pike Place Market at Christmas

Here are a few photos I took at Pike Place Market in Seattle while my family was visiting. A great place to visit around the holidays, so festive.

Pike Place Market at Christmas

Do you want a real New Years recipe?

Cook yourself up some good luck with this hearty Black Eyed Pea Stew




Eggnog Creme Brulee

makes six 4-oz/120-ml ramekins

Ingredients

2 cups (473 ml.) store bought or homemade Eggnog
2 cups (473 ml.) heavy whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup (62 mg.) sugar
6 tsp. sugar for topping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, 160/170 Celsius, or Gas Mark 3. And put a kettle of hot water on the stove.

Place the eggnog, the cream and the sugar into a medium saucepan, stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to just a simmer, don't boil it. Place the yolks into a large bowl and beat them a little. Ladle a little cream mixture into the yolks, whisking the whole time, then a little more while you keep whisking. Keep adding and whisking till you've added about half. Then add all of yolk mixture to the cream mixture and whisk till it's all incorporated. Add the fresh nutmeg. Pour the whole shebang through a fine mesh strainer placed over a large measuring cup with a spout for pouring.

Place 6 ramekins into a large (9x13 ish) sized pan. Pour hot water from your kettle half way up the sides of the ramekins. Pour the creme mixture into ramekins. Now cover the pan with foil.

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. Until the centers are set and a knife comes out clean when placed in the center. Tip- if the water is poured more than half way up the sides of the ramekins, it will take longer to bake.

Remove the ramekins from the pan using tongs. Put them into another 9x13 pan and cover with plastic. Place in the fridge until cold, or overnight. When ready to serve, using a paper towel, carefully pat the tops of the custards to remove moisture that accumulated in the fridge. Place 1 tsp of sugar in a thin layer over each custard. Make it as thin as you can, it may not take the whole teaspoon. Broil the top of the sugar with a torch until it's golden brown. Or if you don't have a torch, place them under the broiler until the sugar is golden. If you are doing it under the broiler, you need to watch it closely, this only takes moments. I would even leave the oven door open and watch it while it's happening. They can burn very quickly and that would be bad.

Let the custards sit a few minutes before serving so the sugar hardens.