Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 4 4oz ramekins or other ceramic dish that can hold 3 cups of liquid, plus a deep cake pan or roasting pan.

Put the cream in a saucepan. Cut your vanilla bean in half, lengthwise. Scoop the contents of the pod and add to the cream, including the whole bean. Scald the cream over medium high heat.

Remove the cream from the fire after boiling, cover, and set aside for 15 minutes. After which, discard the vanilla bean.

In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until the color lightens. Add the cream little by little, whisking as you go, until all cream has been added to the eggs.

Pour the cream into the ramekins and set them in the cake pan or roasting pan. Pour HOT WATER into the pan, being careful not to splash into the cream brulee, until the water reaches halfway up the ramekins.

Bake the creme brulee for 40 minutes, or until the sides of the brulee has firmed but the center is still wobbly.

Chill the creme brulee for at least 3 hours, before topping with a teaspoon granulated sugar per ramekin, and toasting the sugar with a blowtorch until caramelized. Let sit for a minute before serving, so that the caramel top hardens.