Simmerstock.com scripts: Cawfee, Reglah (coffee creme brulee with two sugars)

Prep

Prepare 8 4 oz. ramekins with butter. Preheat the oven to 275 and position the rack in the middle.

Sugar #1

Pour 3/4 cup of white sugar and sprinkle 1/4 cup of water over it. Don't just dump the water in, but try to distribute it relatively evenly over the sugar. Do not stir. Turn the heat on to medium. Do not stir. Swirl pan around until sugar disolves, taking care that the liquid does not boil. If it looks like the liquid's gonna boil, take it off the heat for a moment. Oh, and did I mention that you shouldn't stir it with anything like a spoon or spatula? Doing so could cause the disolved sugar to crystalize (you have a super-saturated solution and introducing something for the sugar molecules to bond to will, well, cause the sugar molecules to bond to each other faster than middle-aged men at a Kiss reunion concert).

Once the sugar is disolved, crank the heat and let the sucker boil. Slowly swirl the pan on the burner (just like you're making Jiffy-Pop™) until you see the first sign of color. Now it gets a bit tricky timing-wise: Swirl the pan briskly until you get a medium-light amber color and then turn off that heat (on an elctric burner, take the pan off the burner). If you're not sure, err on the side of undercooking the caramel. A khaki caramel is a helluva lot better than a burnt one. Also keep in mind that the caramel will continue cooking a bit once you've taken it off the heat. If there's any bit of black in the caramel or if it smells burnt there's only one way to rescue the situation: start again (hey, it's only sugar, water and less than 10 minutes of your time).

Quickly - that is, don't let the caramel cool in the pan - pour about a tablespoon of caramel in each ramekin.

Coffee Crème

In a bowl that will hold at least four cups of liquid add the egg yolks and sugar and beat with a whisk until pale yellow and smooth (3-5 minutes by hand, 1-2 minutes with a mixer). Set the egg mixture aside.

To a saucepan add the cream, coffee, and vanilla extract (If you are using a real vanilla bean, cut it in half lengthwise, scrape the seeds with a knife, and add the seeds and the bean to the pot). Heat over a medium flame, stirring to disolve the coffee, until bubbles begin to form around the edges (you're just aiming to get things warm, not to really cook anything). Set aside to cool for a few minutes. If your using real vanilla bean, let the bean steep for about 10 minutes, otherwise about 5 minutes should do.

Add the cream mixture (in a slow and steady stream or at a few tablespoons at a time) to the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Then, through a fine strainer (optional, but it does make for a smoother end product), pour the custard into the ramekins.

Place the ramekins in a baking dish or casserole pan. Place pans in the oven and create a bain marie by filling the pan about halfway up with boiling water (that's boiling, not just hot water from the tap). Bake for about 40-45 minutes (until there's a faint jiggle in the custard when you shake the pan). Put the ramekins on a cooling rack and let cool for about a half hour. Refrigerate the custards for at least two hours, but ideally at least four. Covered with plastic wrap, the custards can keep in the fridge for a week (hell, we've kept 'em for two or more and we're still walkin').

Sugar #2

The final step is the caramelized sugar top. If you don't have the proper equipment (either from the hardware store or some fancy schmancy catalog), you can simply repeat sugar #1 above and pour it over the top. Otherwise, sprinkle two teaspoons or so of white sugar on top of the custards and melt with the propane device of your choice. Whatever you do, don't think that a grill starter will do the trick. It won't, and you'll look silly.

Plating

Put the ramekins on a plate with a spoon and serve. Hey - you got tons of yummy sugar and cream here (with a little caffine thrown in for oomph). If your guests aren't satisfied with that, you need to find yourself some new guests!