Cardamom and Saffron Creme Brulee + Poetic Loveliness

les fleurs

wakening
Chant du Matin
These photographs are from © keico....a very, very lovely photographer whose work I have admired for some time now. With such beautiful and poetic pieces as the ones above, how can I not admire?
These are just a small snippet from her Flickr page, her WEBSITE is full of equally captivating images.
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Do you ever feel like all female-focused magazines talk about is how to land a guy? What to wear, what to say, and what they say. And of course, what to cook for him. One magazine I read somewhere recommended making lemon-flavored roasted chicken to get 'him' to propose. In my opinion, anyone who proposes to a girl just because she roasted him a chicken is not really worth marrying. Even cookbooks do this: one old cookbook I have recommended making crème brûlée because apparently its supposed to be the ultimate guy dessert (and that particular recipe was terrible and fussy).

[I wanted to capture the crème brûlée while the sugar was still bubbling]
Even if its a bit old-fashioned and basic, and even if I am just a female, crème brûlée is still one of my favorite desserts. Of course, I love all things dairy, and crème brûlée is the penultimate creamy, luscious, dairy-rich dessert. Its consistency is softer than a regular custard, which makes it taste as if its melting in your mouth. And of course, there's that wonderful glass-fragile, hard burnt-caramel crust, that adds a little zing to each bite.
The first good crème brûlée I remember eating was infused with saffron and cardamom. Cardamom is fiery and highly aromatic...but whenever I smell or taste it, I think of cool milk. It reminds me too of childhood, of prayers and helping my mom remove the little black seeds from the pods, and their smell seemed to pervade everything. Even today, cardamom makes me feel warm and safe, and the smell of it brings to mind early mornings and very clean spaces. It is perhaps my very favorite spice. Saffron is fairly high up there in spices that I like, and the golden tint it leaves behind makes this particular dessert look even more rich and luxurious.
Not to mention, it is fairly easy to make. Maybe there is some enchantment in it, after all.
Cardamom + Saffron Infused Crème Brûlée
3 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp sugar, separated
10 cardamom pods, crushed
4 good-sized strands of saffron, crumbled
1 vanilla bean, split in half length-wise
6 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
Put the cream, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla bean halves, crushed cardamom, and crumbled saffron in a medium saucepan. Heat the mixture until warm, but do not allow it to boil.
Allow the spices to infuse the mixture: cover the saucepan and set aside for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 350°f. Set six 6 ounce ramekins in a deep baking pan. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl.
Add the pinch of salt to the cream mixture and reheat it. Very slowly, pour the egg yolks into the warm cream mixture, whisking constantly. Heat over very low heat, while stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula. Then, strain the mixture using a mesh strainer.
Divide the mixture into your ramekins. Fill the pan with warm water; the water level should be about half-way up the ramekins. Cover with foil, and carefully transfer the pan to the oven. Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes, until the custard have barely set and are still jiggly.
Carefully remove pan from the oven, remove foil (reserve for later) and allow the custard to cool in the water bath for 5-10 minutes. Then, remove them from the water bath and allow to cool to room temperature. Be a little greener: cut the reserved foil into 6 squares and use to cover each ramekin. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
When ready to serve, sprinkle each ramekin with 1/2 tbsp (1 1/2 tsp) of sugar, and caramelize the sugar using a butane torch. Place ramekin in the middle of a large plate. Wave the tip of the flame over the sugar until the sugar begins melting. Rotate the plate while doing this to ensure that each custard caramelizes evenly, until the sugar is a amber-brown and thoroughly caramelized.