Wednesday Recipes: White Chocolate-and Orange-Creme Brulee

White Chocolate and Orange Crème Brulee

Each year, I ask my family members to choose a dessert. This year, my daughter’s pick was this fancy version of a special dessert—the kind I order in restaurants. It’s not as easy as some recipes, but it is luscious. Enjoy!

White Chocolate and Orange-Crème Brulee

Ingredients:

3 cups heavy whipping cream

1 (4-oz.) white chocolate bar, finely chopped

¼ cup packed light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons packed grated orange zest, plus ¼ cup fresh (from 2 navel oranges), divided

9 large egg yolks

1/3 cup, plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Candied Kumquats and quartered Candied Navel Orange Slices (see extra recipe, below)

Small fresh mint leaves

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place whipping cream, chocolate, brown sugar, salt, and

orange zest in a medium saucepan; cook over medium-low, stirring frequently, until

mixture is steaming, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat.

2.     Whisk together egg yolks and 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar in a large bowl until well

combined. Gradually add heated cream mixture, whisking constantly, until combined.

Strain egg yolk mixture through a fine mesh strainer back into saucepan; whisk in vanilla

paste and orange juice. Divide egg mixture evenly among 8 (7-8 ounces) ramekins.

3.     Place ramekins in a large roasting pan. Add boiling water to pan to come hallway up

sides of ramekins. Bake in preheated oven until egg mixture is set but still jiggles, 30 to

35 minutes.

4.     Carefully transfer ramekins to a wire rack. Let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate,

uncovered, until chilled, for about 2 hours. (Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up

to 3 days, if desired).

5.     Sprinkle remaining 3 tablespoons sugar over crème brulee (should be a thin layer). Toast

sugar using a kitchen torch until sugar is caramelized. (Alternately, broil crème brulee on

the top rack, watching closely, until sugar is caramelized, 3 to 5 minutes). Let stand until

sugar is set, about 10 minutes. Garnish with candied fruit and mint leaves.

6.      PS. I added whipped cream sweetened with the citrus syrup leftover after candying the

fruit. 😊

Candied Fruit:

Note. This isn’t necessary, but fun. My husband and son didn’t try because of the peels. I’m not sure if I’m a fan, but I look forward to trying these with other things.

Ingredients:

Navel or blood oranges or kumquats

Sugar

Directions:

1.     Slice oranges ¼ inch thick OR slice kumquats ¼ inch thick OR slice orange peels ¼ inch

wide.

2.     Bring 12 to 14 navel or blood orange slices, 1 cup kumquat slices, OR 1 cup orange peel

slices and 1 inch water to a boil over medium-high heat in a large, wide saucepan. Drain

using a fine mesh strainer (to remove bitterness from citrus). Do this again.

3.     Using the same saucepan, bring 2 ½ cups granulated sugar and 2 ¼ cups water to a boil

over medium-high, stirring often. Add citrus; reduce heat to a medium-low and bring to a

simmer. Cook, turning occasionally, until peels are slightly translucent, 45 to 60 minutes

for orange slices and peels and 20 to 30 minutes for kumquats.

4.     Arrange citrus in a single layer on an oven-safe wire rack set over a baking sheet, bake

at 200 degrees Fahrenheit until slightly dried (about 1 hour for orange slices and peels

and 40 minutes for kumquats), and let cool 30 minutes.

5.     Alternately, for a sugary coating, spread citrus on a wire rack, let stand until dry but still

sticky (about 12 hours), sprinkle both sides with granulated sugar, and press to coat. Store

in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

6.     Reserve citrus syrup from the pan where you boiled the citrus for other uses—there are

so many possibilities. 😊

Source: Southern Living magazine, December 2024.