1 pint heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out
4 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
Scant ¼ teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring cream and vanilla bean (and scrapings) to a low simmer. Combine egg yolks, ¼ cup sugar and salt. Whisk until smooth. Remove bean pods from cream.
Slowly add the warm cream to egg yolks. Continue mixing until well-combined. Let set for 5 to 10 minutes. Use a small ladle to skim the top of the mixture to remove the bubbles.
Place a towel in the bottom of a baking pan large enough to hold four ramekins. (The towel keeps the bottoms from cooking too fast.) Place four 6-ounce ramekins in the pan (you may need 2 pans, depending on the size and shape of your ramekins and the size of your largest baking pan). Fill each ramekin with the crème brûlée mixture (about ½ cup ). Fill the baking pan with hot water, to about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. (The water allows the custard to cook evenly around the edges.) Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes. The centers should still jiggle slightly.
Remove ramekins from water bath; cool completely. When ready to serve, sprinkle the top on each with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Use a cooking torch to caramelize the sugar. (Alternatively, place under a broiler and watch carefully; remove as soon as sugar melts, caramelizes and turns brown and slightly bubbly.) A black spot or two is perfectly OK – your goal is to create a hardened sugar layer over the vanilla cream. Cracking this layer with the back of a spoon will be as delightful to you as it was to Amelie, the heroine of the popular French movie a couple of years ago. Garnish with a peanut butter petit four. Serves 4.
Peanut butter petit four
This ultra-rich confection can be cut into decorative shapes, but something akin to a 1-by-1-inch square is plenty for a serving.
3 cups light brown sugar
12 ounces evaporated milk 3/4 cup peanut butter 2 teaspoons butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate ganache:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped into pieces 1/4 cup heavy cream
Using a candy thermometer and stirring frequently, heat sugar and milk to 240 degrees – soft-ball stage. Remove from heat, fold in remaining ingredients. Continue to fold the fudge over itself with a heatproof rubber spatula for about 10 minutes, or until it begins to thicken and becomes stiff. Scoop the fudge into a 9-by-9-inch baking dish lined with parchment paper. Place another sheet of paper on top and smooth out with a spatula. Let set for 1 to 2 hours. Flip the fudge out onto a cutting board, cut into small circles or squares using a cookie cutter or a knife. Top with chocolate ganache.
To make ganache: Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl. Heat over a double boiler until melted. Heat the cream in a small saucepan (an essential step for a smooth and creamy icing, warns Avalon Pastry Chef Brent Hauck), and add to the chocolate. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Spread the warm ganache just over the tops of the petit fours with the back of a spoon. Makes 811-inch squares, or fewer if decoratively cut.