Thai Tea Creme Brulee

I found some thai tea in my pantry as I was cleaning and purging.  By "some" I mean about 5 lbs.  It's not that it was ever truly lost, it's just that I think I love the idea of thai tea more than I love making it.  I'll order it at Thai restaurants because it feels like a treat, but all that sugary sweetness in a beverage just seems a little out of place at home.  And if you've ever had thai tea, you know that it is indeed super duper sugary, shockingly sweet.  It's the sweetened condensed milk.  When I make it at home, I skip the sweetened condensed milk, add a bit of sugar to the hot tea, and then add a bit of half and half to the iced glass.  It's not traditional and it even looks a bit watery as you can see, but that way I can completely control the sugar.  Thinking about the ingredients in the iced tea though had me wondering how this would play out in a creme brulee.

The tea leaves can be purchased in (large) bags at the asian grocer.  My package said "Bot Tra Thai"  It looks like regular 'ole tea until it comes into contact with liquid. Then it becomes orange dye.  Take heed.

The recipe is like any basic creme brulee recipe; tons of cream, throw in some eggs, sugar, flavoring and bake in a water bath.  I always say that creme brulee is one of the easiest desserts out there and yet everyone thinks it's so schmance.  It's kind of sneaky like that. And thai tea creme brulee?  Tastes identical to thai tea.  If you ever had a nice big glass and wondered what the tea would be like in solid form, well this is it--pretty tasty.  I'd definitely make this again.  But now I'm wondering what green tea creme brulee would taste like....

  

The fun part......woohoo!(Why is it that animated gifs make me giggle with glee when videos do  the same thing only better?)

Thai Tea Creme Brulee

Ingredients 

2 1/2 cups light cream

8 tsps loose thai tea

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar plus more for tops of creme brulee

• Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring almost to a boil.
• Remove from head, stir in tea leaves and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
• Boil full teapot for water bath and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Strain creme through fine sieve or yogurt strainer (thai tea has some very fine leaves).
• Beat egg ylks and sugar in a bowl (or pyrex glass measuring cup--makes pouring into ramekins easy)
• Gradually add creme to eggs beating well
• Arrange 6 ramekins or ovenproof small dishes in roasting pan and pour custard into them.
• Place pan in oven and carefully pour water on outside of ramekins.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until set.  Centers may jiggle slightly.
• Leave dishes to cool in water then refrigerate for 4-5 hours.
• Just before serving, sprinkle with 1-2 tsp of sugar and carmelize with torch.