Refer to the "Cleaning a Vanilla Bean" pictorial for cleaning instructions.

Place the contents of the vanilla bean and the vanilla pod into the milk/cream mixture.

Whisk to incorporate the vanilla. Heat the milk over medium-low heat to steep the vanilla flavor into the milk.

Place the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl.

Whisk the yolks and sugar until they are smooth and well incorporated.

Place the bowl onto a slightly damp kitchen towel to keep it from slipping around.

Ladle some of the hot milk and slowly drizzle it into the egg yolks while whisking rapidly.

Whisk until the warmed milk is well incorporated before adding more milk.

Repeat the process of adding warm milk several times until the bowl is warm to the touch. This process is called "tempering".

Pour the tempered egg yolks in a slow drizzle into the remaining warm cream. Whisk constantly to incorporate the egg yolks totally.

Stir the mixture until it is slightly thickened. This bound mixture is now a creme anglaise. It can be used as a dessert base, ice cream base or a creme brulee base. This type of binding can be referred to as a "liaison".

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve. For creme brulee, fill creme brulee dishes with the anglaise.

Pour warm water carefully into a water bath half way up the side of the dish. This is referred to as a bain marie.

Bake the creme brulee until the center is just slightly jiggly. Cool the custard at least an hour before serving.

For the caramelized sugar top of the creme brulee, gently dab the surface of the custard with a paper towel to remove any condensation. Pour a generous amount of sugar on top.

Shake the dish to distribute the sugar evenly over the surface of the custard. Tap the excess sugar out of the dish.

Caramelize the sugar with a torch, being very careful not to burn yourself.

Use circular motions and rotate the dish making sure to just melt the sugar evenly. Although it translates to "burnt cream" we still want our creme brulee to have a nice caramel flavored sugar.

Once the full top has been caramelized, allow it to cool completely before serving. This takes just a minute or two, but is worth the wait to hear the crack of the sugar under the pressure of your spoon.