Pour heavy cream into a heavy-bottomed pot. Split vanilla bean open with a sharp knife. Scrape out vanilla beans and put the seeds in the pot. Add the vanilla bean to the pot. Boil the cream for about 30 seconds, and then allow the cream to cool.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar until they are light and creamy. Add a small amount of the warmed cream into the egg yolks whisking briskly. Continue to add warmed cream in small amounts until it is fully incorporated. Do not add the milk too quickly, but do it very slowly.
Fill 6 ramekins with custard. Place ramekins in a baking dish. Add boiling water to the baking dish. Bake custards for 30 minutes or until set. Allow the custards to cool to room temperature place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before you make the brulee. The custards may not seem fully set when you remove them out of the oven, but they continue to set while they cool.
Blot the custard dry with a paper towel before sprinkling with sugar. Add about 1 to 1/2 teaspoons of sugar to the top of each ramekin. Ignite the flame and sweep the flame from the outside to the inside of the ramekin. You will need to rotate the ramekin as you swipe the flame across the custard. You can refrigerate these about an hour before serving.