TWD: The Creme Brulee of Horror

I had such high hopes for this one. Creme brulee has always been a favorite of mine since I had a heavenly strawberry version a few years ago. When Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake picked creme brulee for this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie, I was excited to try it at home for the first time.

It started out well enough. The custard came together quickly and easily. I wanted the plain vanilla flavor so I didn't do any add-ins. I put it into the oven at 200 degrees and set the timer. I made a 1/3 batch and only came out with 1 small ramekin serving. Oh well. Its just me anyway.

After the timer went off I came back and pulled it out to check out it. Not a darn thing had changed from when I put it in. Well, I put it back in for 20 minutes. Came back again. Nothing. Allllrighhty. 20 more minutes. Nothing. Still a soupy mess. At this point it had been in for over an hour. I had looked up some other creme brulee recipes and they seemed alot different than Dorie's. Alton Brown for example had his baking at 325 for an hour in a water bath. So I tried that. The top seemed to firm up and bubble slightly but...you got it. Still a soupy mess. Craaaaapppppppp!

At this point I was ready to throw it out and say forget it. But I couldn't do that, could I? So after it cooled to room temp, I covered the custard and put it in the oven to sit overnight in hopes that it would firm up and be okay. When I took it out the next day after work. It appeared to have worked. Hallelujah! I turned on the broiler, sprinkled the sugar on top, and slid that bad boy in. I watched it like a hawk because heaven forbid I cremated the sugar. I waited and waited and waited. Finally a slight bubbling so I pulled it out to check. OMG! The stupid thing had gone back to a soupy cottage cheese stinkin' mess! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WTF!??!!

le sigh. After much debate with myself, I can only imagine that the travesty that is the creme brulee of why do you hate me baking gods? was probably due to the half and half I used. I picked up non fat hoping that I could lighten the calorie and fat content. I also used non fat milk. Again, to lower the above. What?? I'm trying to be good and lose some weight people! I used the same for when we made the flan and had no issues. I thought it would work again. Ha! The custard laughs manically. hahahahaha! I spit in your face stupid human wanting to consume my creamy goodness!

I spread this out over two days. I made the custard and baked it Sunday and left Monday to make the burnt sugar top. I did taste the confection in the end. It was ok. I think it would have been edible if I had not attempted to create the sugar top. Since it didn't caramelize, it just became waaaaay to sweet. I thought about going back and doing a rewind since we were given the option but I either didn't have all the ingredients or it would be too much to do last minute. Perhaps next week will be better. Though with it being Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie cake, I'm not so sure. I'm not in a chocolate cake kind of mood (I rarely am honestly) but I'm sure the guys at work will have no problem eating that one up.

For some (hopefully) non creme brulees of ultimate funkiness, check out my fellow bakers here at TWD. To get this weeks recipe, but the book ;) ! Or you can see Mari at Mevrouw Cupcake!