Snickerdoodle Creme Brulee

This post is a few months late, but you know what they say, "It's better late than never".
Dr. Sweetpea loves loves LOVES creme brulee. It's one of the desserts that he's always asking me to make. So when his birthday came up in April, he asked me to make creme brulee. Coincidentally, I had just saved this Snickerdoodle Creme Brulee recipe just the day before, so I went ahead and made it for him. I don't have any pictures to accompany this post, but I can say Dr. Sweetpea loved his creme brulee and it'll stay in our regular rotation.

Snickerdoodle Creme Brulee

(Source: People Magazine)

2 cups half-and-half

4 large egg yolks

Pinch of table salt

½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided

1 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided, plus more for serving

1 tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Boiling water

Preheat oven to 325°. Bring half-and-half to a simmer in a saucepan over medium; remove from heat.

Whisk together egg yolks, salt, 1/2 cup sugar and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl. Gradually pour 1/2 cup hot half-and-half into egg-yolk mixture, whisking constantly, to temper. Gradually add remaining half-and-half, whisking constantly. Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a large measuring cup or bowl; stir in vanilla.

Place 6 (5- to 6-oz.) ramekins in a large roasting pan; divide custard mixture among ramekins. Place pan in oven, and pour boiling water into pan until it reaches halfway up sides of ramekins (be careful not to splash water into ramekins).

Bake in oven until sides are set but still slightly jiggly in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove pan from oven; let cool 10 minutes. Remove ramekins from water bath to cooling rack, and cool completely. Wrap ramekins in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Remove ramekins from refrigerator. Using a paper towel, gently blot any condensation from top of custard. Stir together remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle top of each custard with 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar mixture, and tap and shake gently to cover surface.

If you have a kitchen torch, use it to heat the sugar topping until dark golden brown. Otherwise preheat broiler to high with an oven rack 6 inches from heat. Place ramekins on a baking sheet, and broil, rotating pan as needed, until sugar bubbles and turns golden brown, 2 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately with an additional pinch of cinnamon, if desired.