Was something wrong with my creme brulee?

If you leave vanilla seeds in your creme brulee, do they settle to the bottom? The two times I’ve had expensive creme brulee, there were little black specks in the bottom of the dish. The first time I thought it was mold.

“What say you, good people?”

I’ve never tried vanilla beans, but my berries always sit on the bottom. Maybe if we tries adding them piece meal through the cooking process, perhaps the custard will set up more and help bits float. Of course with a bain marie, I always assumed it kinda cooked from the top down, but I just may be totally wrong in that assumption. Maybe we need an experiment?

My vanilla seeds settle, too. I think that’s just the way it goes when you start out with a liquid, uncooked custard. I don’t worry about it too much because it still tastes heavenly.

But dang, those vanilla beans are getting expensive. I’ve gone back to using a vanilla extract (high quality), but it just doesn’t taste the same as a bean.