Cranberry Creme Brûlée

Preheat oven to 325. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine cranberries, sugar, orange juice and zest. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Simmer about 10 minutes or until the berries burst. Cool.

For the custard, in a saucepan, heat cream and salt over medium heat until small bubbles form around the sides of the pan. Do not boil. Remove from the heat. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and egg yolks until smooth and the mixture turns a pale yellow. Whisk in a small amount of the hot cream to temper the eggs and then slowly add the mixture to the warm cream whisking constantly. Whisk in the vanilla.

Put 8 ramekins into a deep baking dish and put 1 tbsp. of the cranberry sauce into the bottom of each ramekin. Pour the custard into the ramekins. Carefully pour the boiling water into the baking dish until the water reaches halfway up the ramekins. Carefully put into the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the centers are barely set. Cool completely.

When ready to serve, top each custard with about a tsp. of the superfine sugar to coat evenly. With a torch, brown the sugar. Let the custard sit a few minutes until the sugar hardens. Garnish with a tbsp. of the remaining cranberry sauce. Serve and enjoy.