Instructions
- Heat sous vide water bath to desired temperature according to your preference: 80°C for soft and creamy, 83°C for thick and rich (Chefsteps favorite), 85°C for firm and unctuous (Joule app shows videos).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, vanilla, sugar, and salt until smooth and homogenous. Add heavy cream and whisk until well combined and sugar has fully dissolved.
- Strain custard base through fine-mesh strainer into a large liquid measuring cup. Let strained custard base rest for at least 30 minutes to allow air bubbles to rise to surface and dissipate. Using a spoon, skim away any bubbles left on surface after resting.
- Divide custard base evenly between five 8-ounce wide-mouth mason jars; each jar should have between 140 and 150 g of custard base, with about 1/2 inch headspace from lip of jar.
- Gently tap jars several times on counter to remove air bubbles. If any bubbles remain, you can get rid of them with a kitchen blowtorch. Light torch on low-release gas setting and keeping flame at least 2 inches from jars, sweep over surface of custard base until bubbles have popped.
- Seal jar lids until fingertip tight (lids should be secure, but you should be able to easily unscrew them with your fingertips). Using canning tongs, carefully transfer jars to sous vide bath, making sure they are all fully submerged.
- Cook for 1 hour. Once cooked, custards can be held in sous vide bath for 15 minutes without any loss in quality.
- Remove jars from sous vide bath and transfer to wire rack. Let cool at room temperature until cool to the touch, about 25 minutes. Cooked and cooled custards can be refrigerated for up to 1 week. When ready to serve, proceed to Step 10.
- If you’re looking to serve as soon as possible, prepare an ice bath. Tighten jar lids, and transfer to an ice bath to rapidly chill, about 1 hour, or refrigerate jars until custard is fully chilled and set, about 4 hours.
- When ready to serve, remove jar lids. Using paper towel, gently blot away condensation from surface of custards. Using a small fine-mesh strainer or your fingers, sprinkle an even layer of sugar over surface of each custard.
- Light blowtorch on low-release gas setting. Working with one jar at a time sweep flame over surface of custard, keeping torch head 6 to 10 inches from jar while rotating jar, until sugar is bubbling and deep golden brown. Repeat with remaining jars.
- Let rest for 5 minutes to allow sugar crust to harden. Serve.
Ingredients
- 160 g Egg yolk(s) (about 11 large yolks)
- 0.6 g Vanilla bean seed (from 1 pod)
- 90 g Sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 3 g Kosher salt
- 600 g Heavy cream