Lemon Thyme Creme Brûlée

My son went out to dinner the other night and he mentioned that he had Lemon Thyme Creme Brulee. Well, immediately I was on the computer looking for a recipe. The one that I found had metric measurements, and since math isn't my thing, I dismissed it.  I went to my tried and true recipe from The Pioneer Woman and tweaked it a bit.  The results were pretty good. I may still play around with a bit more lemon zest but I liked it enough.  


1 quart heavy cream
10 egg yolks
3/4 c plus 6 or so TBSP super fine sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
5-6 thyme sprigs  (leaves removed and chopped)

I use my Mom-mom's way of making superfine sugar. She just put it in the blender and pulsed it until it was superfine.  Works great!

Preheat the oven to 325.

Pour the cream into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to almost a boil and turn off the heat. Add the thyme and lemon zest to infuse into the cream.

Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and add the 3/4 cup sugar.  With a whisk, and a ton of muscle, whisk these for a good 5 minutes. Whisk like crazy!!Until the eggs are a very light yellow. 

Now temper the egg mixture by very slowly drizzling 1 cup of the milk mixture into the egg mixture while continually whisking. You do not want to cook the eggs.  Then you can add the rest of the cream while continuing to whisk.  

Place 6 ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and carefully ladle the custard into them. About 3/4 full. ( i always seem to be able to fill 6 large and 4 small ramekins).
Place the pan into the oven, then pour water into the pan until water reaches halfway up the ramekins.
Bake for 35- 45 minutes or until the custard is set. Be careful not to let it brown.  
Remove ramekins and allow to cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

When you are ready to serve, sprinkle each custard with a TBSP of superfine sugar and use a kitchen torch to burn the sugar crispy.

Serve immediately.