Meyer Lemon Creme Brulee

Creme brulee - it's so easy to make and seems so fancy. My mom had her first one during our rehearsal dinner and she loved it. When my family came up to dinner, I knew I had to make some. I made them a vanilla creme brulee. I enjoyed it so much I whipped up another batch of creme brulee lol! This time I added half a Meyer Lemon I had leftover from making a blueberry crisp. The citrus flavor was very subtle, along with the vanilla flavor. I made it in some big, normal-sized ramekins, and also in these tiny thin ramekins for small servings of creme brulee. The smaller ramekins worked better for this creme brulee - you get the right ratio of citrus in the creme brulee and sweet from the sugar coating. When eating it in the bigger ramekin, you were wanting more of that sugar coating to pair with the citrusy creme.

Meyer Lemon Creme Brulee

1 qt heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped
6 egg yolks
1/2 c vanilla sugar, plus more for topping
1/2 a Meyer lemon

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a saucepan over medium high heat, add the heavy cream and the vanilla bean and its seeds. Bring to a boil. Then remove from heat, cover, and let it sit for 15 mins. In a mixing bowl, add the egg yolks, 1/2 c vanilla sugar or plain sugar, and the zest and juice of half a Meyer lemon. (To get vanilla sugar, add a vanilla bean to 2 c of sugar in an airtight container. Leave for a wk before using. Great way to put used vanilla beans to use!) Whisk the eggs until light in color. Then slowly add the cream to the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour the liquid into the ramekins. Put the ramekins in a baking dish or roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the pan until it comes halfway up the side of the ramekins. Bake for 40 mins. Then refrigerate for at least 2 hrs. Before serving, sprinkle sugar on top of the creme brulee, and using a torch melt the sugar. Enjoy!