Orange Ginger Creme Brulee

Creme Brulee with the just the right amount of orange and ginger flavor. Taken from "A Food Centric Life".

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 6

Ingredients

• 2  cups heavy cream
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 1  pinch salt
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons orange zest (roughly 1 large orange)
• 1  tablespoon  finely minced ginger
• 6  egg yolks
• 4  tablespoons sugar, for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Put the zest and ginger in the cream and heat to just below simmering. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Strain out the zest and ginger.
3. Meanwhile cream the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the cream very slowly mixing constantly. If you add it too quickly the egg yolk will cook from the heat of the cream. Try not to incorporate any air into the mix as you stir, air bubbles will detract from the smooth texture of the final product.
5. Divide the mixture between 4 to 6 ramekins (will depend on the size of your ramekins). Place these in a lasagna pan and carefully pour water into the pan so that it comes up the outsides of the ramekins about 3/4 of the way up.
6. Carefully put this pan in the oven. If you spill water into the ramekins it won't set -- don't spill!
7. Bake about half an hour, or until the custards are set but still jiggly.
8. Remove from the oven and take the ramekins out of the water bath. Allow to cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 4 hours, or up to 3 days.
9. When ready to serve, sprinkle about a half tablespoon of sugar onto the custard. Spread it around evenly with a spoon or your finger, then use a blowtorch to caramelize the sugar. It should melt and brown a bit, but not burn. You can attempt to use the broiler in your oven to caramelize the sugar, but I have not had good success with this.
10. Eat immediately. If you let them sit the sugar crust can pull water out of the custard and dissolve. Then you're eating flan, not creme brulee!