Summer Genetti, a Cincinnati native, has worked her way up through many of Cincinnati’s premier restaurants. Starting her self-guided pastry career at J’s Fresh Seafood in Hyde Park with Jimmy Gherhardi, she later gained a position with the much beloved Jean-Robert De Cavel at Pho Paris and Chalk Food+Wine-only to find a “palatial” new home as the Executive Pastry Chef of the Cincinnatian Hotel. Summer continues to find inspiration from local farmers, artists, and some of America’s top pastry chefs—Kate Zuckerman of Chanterelle, Michael Laiskonis of Le Bernardin, Nancy Olson of Gramercy Tavern, to name a few—with whom she’s had the honor to observe and work.

Summer Genetti’s Classic Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee
Summer chose to share this recipe because she gets so many compliments on it from guests at The Palace. People often comment that they can’t achieve the texture of Summer’s creation. Curious as to what the difference might be, Summer is sharing her recipe for all to compare and contrast.  Listen to the interview  Segment 2 of the interview.

ingredients:
2c heavy cream (36-40 percent milk fat)
1.5 oz brown sugar
1.5 oz white sugar
5ea large egg yolks
1ea vanilla bean split and scraped
1 pinch kosher salt
1/4c turbinado sugar (for blazed sugar crust)

yields 4, five ounce ramekins.

method: preheat oven to 300 degrees. in a medium sauce pan, combine heavy cream, vanilla bean, white sugar and salt. heat just until scaled. in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar and egg yolks for about 1 minute, until well combined. next, using a ladle, slowly pour the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture whisking as you go. this is called “tempering” and keeps the eggs from curdling due to the heat. once all of the cream has been incorporated, strain through a chinoise or fine mesh sieve.
TO BAKE:
Line a roasting pan with an old tea towel and place desired custard dishes onto the towel. fill each dish with the custard and place in the oven, on the middle rack. with a pitcher of hot water, fill the roasting pan until the water level reaches half-way up the sides of the custard dishes. Baking times and even temperatures can vary substantially, but they should be in the oven for 35 minutes to upwards of over an hour. when they are done, they should be completely colorless and “shimmy” when shaken. if the centers are still rippling when moved, continue to bake, checking on them every five minutes or so.

once they have finished baking, let the dishes cool in the roasting pan on the counter. do not attempt to move until it is safe to touch the dishes without being burned! then, chill in the refrigerator for an hour or two until the custard has “set”.
To serve, simply sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the custard and shake off any excess. repeat with remaining dishes, and then blaze the sugar with either a propane torch from the hardware store, or a “creme brulee” torch available at most housewares stores.

chef’s notes: you can make the base for this up to three days prior to baking. starting with chilled base will increase the baking time slightly. these custards can also be baked up to three days prior to serving as long as they are wrapped in cling film to stay moist. the most tedious part of this recipe is the baking temps and times. if you know your oven to run hot, then drop the temperature to 275. if baking with a convection oven, drop the temperature even lower to 250. don’t get hung up on how long it takes for the custards to bake, they will be done when they will be done. just keep observing them periodically to ensure that they do not over bake. once you’ve made this recipe a few times, you will get the “feel” for when they are done, also keep in mind that even though you’ve taken them out of the oven, they are going to continue to bake a little longer due to the residual heat from the hot water bath.

the most popular brand of turbinado sugar on the market is sugar in the raw. this sugar is ideal because the size of each grain. to get a nice crust with white sugar, you will have to carefully apply two perfectly even layers of sugar before torching it. this can be tricky because if it’s too thick or too thin in certain places the sugar will burn to black and not be very appealing. the turbinado sugar eliminates that problem because the grains of sugar are thicker than it’s conventional cousin.