Oatmeal Creme Brulee

Its a beautiful Saturday morning. Hubby, daughter and I were finally able to sleep in a little bit and FINALLY have nothing to do but stay home and relax. Well, actually I have nothing to do. Hubby has a paper to write. But he promises it'll only take a bit and he'll finally be done and he'll be able to spend the rest of the weekend with us. I hope so, 'coz its Mother's Day weekend.

Whenever we're home on a weekend. I like to make a nice breakfast for us to enjoy together at the table. I found this recipe from my good 'ol crockpot cookbook. Suprisingly, its found under the Light Recipes section of the cookbook. I can see the oatmeal part as being "light."But the "creme brulee" part is far from being light. We all know that creme brulee is made of heavy cream, egg yolks and sugar. I love creme brulee, and since hubby and I were on a diet, I figured oatmeal would be good for us. But I think the health benefits of the oatmeal might be negated by the fattiness of the creme brulee. Oh well.

This recipe requires a lot of steps. And it cooks for 3 hours in the crockpot. So I don't think this would work if you wake up late in the morning to try to make this. Three hours will take up your entire morning, and it'll be lunch time by the time you get to eat this. But we have all day at home, so we'll just eat lunch late today. This dish is really yummy. Its more like a dessert rather than a breakfast dish.

4 cups water

3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

1/2 tsp. salt

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

fresh berries (optional)

1) Coat crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Cover and preheat on High. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil. Immediately pour into preheated crockpot. Stir in oatmeal and salt. Cover.

2) Combine egg yolks and sugar in small bowl. Mix well and set aside.

3) Heat cream and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer (small bubbles begin to form at edge of pan). Do not boil. Remove from heat.

4) Whisk 1/2 cup of hot cream into yolks, stirring rapidly so yolks don't cook. Whisk warmed egg mixture into remaining cream, stirring rapidly to blend. Spoon mixture over oatmeal. Do not stir.

5) Turn crockpot to Low. Line lid with 2 paper towels. Cover tightly and cook on low for 3-3 1/2 hours or until custard has set.

6) Uncover and sprinkle brown sugar over surface of custard. Line with 2 dry paper towels. Cover tightly and continue cooking on low for 10-15 minutes or until brown sugar has melted. Serve with fresh berries if desired.