Lightened up Creme Brûlée!

My family absolutely loves creme brûlée (like it is seriously ordered every time it is listed on a menu)!  The crisp caramelized top layer and the creamy custard make it such a luxurious dessert.
It is a little bit time intensive to make, but the payoff is so worth it.  When creating my own recipe, I lightened up the custard base by subbing evaporated milk for some of the cream, but I promise it is still incredibly rich! Oh, and don’t be intimidated by the amount of directions, it is much easier than you may think!  Make sure to let me know in the comments if you have any questions, and feel free to share what your favourite indulgence is!

Creme Brûlée
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup evaporated milk (or 1/4 cup dry milk dissolved in 3/4 cup milk)
1/2 cup natural sugarcane
4 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean (or 2 tsp vanilla)

Directions:
1. Combine the first 4 ingredients (minus 2 tbsp of sugar) in a medium saucepan.
2. Split vanilla bean in half and scape the seeds into the saucepan. Drop the remaining vanilla bean pod into the mixture and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove the vanilla bean pod and pour mixture into 6 small ramekins
4. Create a water bath by placing ramekins inside a large baking dish and carefully fill the dish with hot water, making sure no water gets into the ramekins.
5. Bake creme brûlées in a preheated oven at 325° for 50 minutes.
6. Remove ramekins from oven and cool in your refrigerator for 1-2 hours or until custard has set.
7. Sprinkle a fine layer of sugar on top of each custard and use a torch to lightly burn the sugar.
8. Eat immediately or place ramekins back in the refrigerator to eat within a few hours.

Note: If you don’t have access to a torch, you can also caramelize the sugar topping in your oven. Using the broil setting (or 500 degrees) place your creme brûlée as close to the top heating element as possible and watch for sugar to begin to caramelize. With this method, you may need to refrigerate the creme brûlée once again to re-set the custard, as the custard may become hot during the broiling process.

Nutrition (per serving):
292 Cal, 20.5g Fat, 0g Fibre, 21g Sugar, 5.3g Protein