Vanilla creme brulee

The reason I settled on this dessert to complement my lamb recipe was because someone had made it for me a week prior. I forgot how a simple vanilla crème brulee can completely blow your socks off and selfishly I wanted to revel in that taste again.

I chose to serve this with biscotti, which we happen to have a recipe for on this blog (whew!). You can find it here.

Ingredients

makes 6-8 ramekins

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• 1L Cream
• 2-3 vanilla pods split and scraped
• 12 egg yolks
• 200g caster sugar

Method

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• 1. Combine the cream and vanilla pods with their scrapings in a medium sized pot, bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to infuse for 20 minutes.
• 2. Re-boil the cream mix, meanwhile whisk together the egg yolks with the sugar, slowly pour the hot cream mix whilst mixing into the egg mix.
• 3. Strain and pour into ramekins.
• 4. Cook in a bain marie (a large roast dish filled with water, be careful not to overfill usually ½ to ¾ up the side of the brulee moulds will do the trick) at 160°C covered with foil for one hour or until set. Refrigerate and then serve.
• 5. To serve sprinkle caster sugar over the custard, pour off excess, ensure all of the custard is covered. Either caramelize with a blow torch or put into an ice bath and caramelize it under the grill.