Jackie: Crème Brûlée Recipe
There has always been a lot of interest surrounding the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and I was so excited when I heard Natalie Portman was going to portray her in the 2017 Oscar nominee movie, Jackie. Although there wasn’t any food mentioned in the movie, there have been a few books and articles written about what exactly the first lady ate. There have been rumors about an all fruit diet or baked potatoes and caviar but I didn’t think that would make very interesting post. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case when I started searching online.
I searched through the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and found digital copies of Jackie’s personal recipes for Saint-Honore cake, crème brûlée, and soufflé froid au chocolat. What better than to make something from the personal files of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis? Find all three recipes here.
You’ll notice right away from the recipe that it doesn’t call for it to be cooked in a water bath. I was skeptical that it would set but it actually did and it was delicious. It wasn’t as velvety as it normally is but still great. To brûlée the sugar, the recipe asks for the ramekin to be placed in a bed of crushed iced and then for the sugar to caramelize under a a broiler. This worked fine but I hated dealing with the ice. I would suggest using a thin layer of sugar and then quickly caramelizing it with a blow torch.
Jackie: Crème Brûlée Recipe
Jackie: Crème Brûlée
Ingredients
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 inch piece of vanilla bean
- 6 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6 egg yolks
Instructions
- In upper part of double boiler, heat 3 cups of heavy cream with a 1-inch piece of vanilla bean. In a bowl, beat 6 tablespoons of sugar with 6 egg yolks until light and creamy. Take out the vanilla bean, and stir the warm cream into the yolks very carefully and slowly.
- Return the mixture to the double boiler, over boiling water. Stir constantly until the custard coats the spoon. Then put to a glass serving dish and place it in the refrigerator to set. When ready to serve, cover the top of the custard completely with brown sugar, using 1/2 cup or more. Place the dish on a bowl of crushed ice and place custard under broiler flame until sugar melts and caramelizes. Keep watching it, for the sugar will burn. Serve immediately.
