Green Tea Crème Brûlée

1. Gather all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 300ºF (150ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). You will need 6 ramekins that are 4 oz (120 ml) each.
2. Place 1½ cups heavy (whipping) cream, 1½ cups whole milk, and 1 Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Scald the mixture, stirring often, until it’s very hot to the touch but not boiled. Remove from the heat and let it cool. In the meantime, start a kettle of water on the stove.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together ½ cup sugar and 5 large egg yolks, until well blended and the mixture becomes pale yellow.
4. Temper the egg and sugar mixture with the hot cream mixture, adding ½ cup at a time of the cream mixture and whisking vigorously after each addition. You don‘t want to cook the egg by pouring the milk and cream too fast.
5. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and strain the mixture.
6. Divide the liquid between 6 medium ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large deep baking or roasting pan.
7. Carefully pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
8. Bake the custard at 300ºF (150ºC) just until it is set when shaken, but still wobbly in the center, approximately 30–40 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the water bath, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (up to 3 days). If you are storing them for more than 12 hours, cover them tightly with plastic.

To Serve

1. Remove the crème brûlée from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Sprinkle about 1 tsp sugar on the top of the custard in each ramekin. Tap the side of ramekin to evenly spread the sugar and discard the excess sugar.
2. Melt the sugar with a kitchen blowtorch until the sugar caramelizes evenly (1½ to 2 inches away from the surface of the custard). If you don’t have a blowtorch, place the ramekins right under a broiler on the top rack for 1–3 minutes with the oven door open. You want the sugar to caramelize, but you don’t want the eggs to cook. Allow the crème brûlée to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.