Enjoy the hilarity, I know I am!
Clearly, we need a lesson on sitting like a little lady.
Tasting the spice of life through my adventures in parenting, cooking, gardening, and knitting.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. If using vanilla extract, just add it to the cream once it comes up to a boil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6-8 (7 ounce) ramekins. I only had 6 and probably could have filled 8 of them. I just cooked the rest in a small baking dish. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. I was able to fit my 6 ramekins in a 10x13 baking dish for a perfect fit. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Mine took 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. You can do this step ahead of time and just put them back in the fridge if you are serving this for a dinner party. I wouldn't recommend doing this more than 6 hours ahead. The hardened sugar will eventually get soft and then liquefy. You wouldn't want that to happen!