Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for crust
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (at room temperature)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. On the stove top, bring a large pot of water to boil (for later use).
2. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, cook cream until it begins to simmer. Remove from heat.
3. In a medium sized bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until the mixture is a pale yellow color and looks velvety in texture.
4. Continuing to beat with the electric mixer (on low speed), slowly pour a tiny bit of the hot cream into the yolk mixture, to temper it. (Do NOT pour too much at first or the hot cream will end up scrambling the eggs.) Pour a little more cream in, then add the rest of the cream.
5. Add chocolate hazelnut spread and vanilla extract to the mixture. Beat with electric mixer until incorporated.
6. Place four to six ramekins (depending size) into a 9×13 baking dish, and pour the custard into the ramekins.
7. Carefully pour hot water in the baking dish, around the ramekins, until it comes about half way up the ramekins. Make sure you don’t accidentally pour any water into the custards. Carefully place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 30- 40 minutes, until the edges of the custards have set (the middles will still slightly jiggle).
8. Transfer ramekins to a wire rack to cool to room temperature, then cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
9. Before serving, sprinkle each custard with approximately 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. Gently shake the ramekin back and forth until the entire surface of the custard is covered with a thin layer of sugar, discarding any extra sugar. Using a kitchen torch, move the flame in small circles over the surface until the sugar caramelizes. Serve immediately.
10. Note: For a traditional Crème Brûlée, leave out the chocolate hazelnut spread, and increase pure vanilla extract to 1 ½ teaspoons (or even better, use fresh vanilla bean).