Happy Valentine’s Day! ~ Orange Crème Brûlée

For our Valentine’s Day/engagement anniversary this year, I made a few festive and colorful recipes. I found them on the Domaine Chandon Winery website, and then I put my own personal spin on them. The menu included tiny purple potatoes with sour cream and caviar, troll-caught salmon with roasted red and yellow beets, orange crème brûlée, and Ruby Slipper cocktails. Of all of the recipes, I think the crème brûlée stood out the most. If you haven’t noticed by now, I have a sweet tooth. 😉 The dessert very often is the dish that stands out to me…Ha! I changed the cream and whole milk combination to 2 % milk and I used less egg yolks. I also amped up the flavor with a little Grand Marnier and vanilla. I tried many different variations of this dish to get it just right, and my Valentine and I agreed that this one was our favorite. I hope you like it, too!

Orange Crème Brûlée

Inspired by a recipe from Domaine Chandon Winery

Serves 2

8 ounces 2% milk

3 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus about 2 tablespoons for the top

Zest of one small orange

3 egg yolks

2 teaspoons Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 325 F.

Whisk together the milk, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and orange zest in a saucepan with a heavy bottom. Heat until the sugar is dissolved, taking care not to bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into a large bowl over ice. Cool down until lukewarm. Then whisk in the egg yolks, Grand Marnier, and vanilla extract.

Strain the mixture into a container with a spout. Pour the custard into 2 4-ounce ramekins. (Preferably heart-shaped ones if you have them for Valentine’s Day!) Place the ramekins in a baking dish. Heat some water until almost boiling, and pour the water carefully around the ramekins until it reaches about halfway up the sides. (Make sure none of the water gets into the custard.)

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until set. They should still have a slight jiggle in the middle when tapped.

Cool in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving, or overnight.

Right before serving, dust about 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly over the top of each custard. Caramelize the sugar with a kitchen torch.