INGREDIENTS

• 2 ½ cups heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 4 egg yolks
• 8 teaspoons dark brown sugar, plus 6 teaspoons
• 8 teaspoons maple syrup

PROCEDURE

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Place the vanilla bean seeds and the pod itself with the cream in a saucepot. Heat until little bubbles form around the sides of the cream in the pot.
3. Boil a kettle of water.
4. Meanwhile, beat the yolks and sugar together until the yolks become a pale yellow color (I use an electric handheld beater). Whisk in the maple syrup.
5. Add a little bit of the hot cream to the egg yolks and sugar, using an electric beater to combine.
6. Decant the custard mixture into 6 oven-safe ramekins. Place the ramekins in a baking dish.
7. Remove one ramekin and fill the baking dish halfway up the sides of the ramekins with the boiling water. Replace the ramekin, and place the whole lot in the oven.
8. Bake for 40 minutes. Then, remove the crème brûlée from the oven, and leave in the water bath on the counter until everything comes to room temperature. Refrigerate until completely set, preferably overnight.
9. When you are about to serve the crème brûlée, scatter the top of each custard with 1 teaspoon of dark brown sugar, and use a torch to gently caramelize the sugar.