Instant Pot Cooking: Crème Brûlée

Now that it's coming to an end for 2017, I realized I have not made crème brûlée yet. Therefore I think it's time. Unfortunately I did not have a kitchen torch to create that crisp, brown, sugar top, but nonetheless, it was amazing! Last time I cooked something savory, pot roast, so this sweet dish is something different.

Crème brûlée is very easy to make. In the book, Instant Pot Obsession, by Janet A. Zimmerman, it provides us with a slightly different recipe than I'm familiar with. You need: egg yolks, vanilla extract, sugar (granulated and brown), heavy whipping cream, and water (Zimmerman). Baking it doesn't take too long compared to hours of chilling.

In the picture on the right are different size ramekins filled with a creamy mixture of yolk, cream, vanilla, and sugar. After I mixed all of these ingredients together, I stacked the ramekins in the Instant Pot. I then cooked them on high for 6 minutes and released the pressure for 10 minutes. An important part is the patience you have for them to cool. If you don't let them cool for the adequate amount of time, the top won't be stable enough to hold out the sugar for you to torch it. To avoid that, I chilled them over night just to be safe.

The tricky part about crème brûlée is the top. The cooling plays a part of it, laying a strong, even foundation for the sugar. For example, I got rid of the air bubbles by simply taking a napkin and tapping them. Once I placed a pile on sugar on each, I made sure that it was even throughout. If I had a kitchen torch, I would try and create a beautiful, brown top to break through to the creamy inside. "Watch them carefully, as they can go from browned to burned quickly" (Zimmerman 210). Burning the top takes away from the delicate tone of the dish.

Using the Instant Pot let me realize that there are so many ways to cook crème brûlée other than burning yourself with the hot water-bath fresh out of the oven. I'm excited to create more dishes using the Instant Pot!

Have you ever made or tried crème brûlée? If not, explain why and put it on your 2018 New Years Resolutions list!