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Vanilla and raspberry crème brûlée
Serves 8 Desserts and puddings
Ingredients
- butter, to grease
- 70g caster sugar, plus 1tbsp for the raspberries
- ¼tsp finer flaked sea salt, plus a pinch for the dish
- 300g raspberries
- 100ml whole milk
- 500ml double cream
- 1 vanilla pod, split in half lengthways
- 3 bay leaves
- 6 large or 8 medium egg yolks
- 2tsp cornflour
- 5tbsp demerara sugar
Method
Lightly grease a round 20cm enamel or ceramic pie dish with butter. Scatter over 1tbsp caster sugar and a pinch of salt. Roughly crush half the raspberries with the tines of a fork and use the fork to evenly distribute the berries over the base of the dish. Put in the freezer to chill.
Pour the milk and cream into a large pan and scrape the vanilla seeds into the liquid with the back of a knife. Add the vanilla pod and bay leaves and heat gently over a medium-low heat for 3 minutes or until the contents of the pan begin to steam and bubbles appear around the sides. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Whisk the egg yolks, cornflour and the remaining caster sugar together in a large, heatproof bowl until the mixture is light and frothy. Pour over the hot creamy mixture and whisk to combine. Half-fill a sink with cold water as a precaution before cooking the custard in case it looks as if it might split.
Pour the custard mixture back into the pan you used to heat the cream, and cook the custard over a low heat, stirring constantly, for 12–15 minutes until it’s thickened to the consistency of natural yogurt. A rubber spatula is best for this to peel away the liquid from the sides and bottom edges of the pan. If it looks as if it’s about to split, remove from the heat and plunge into the cold water in the sink, continuing to stir. The custard should look like custard, rather than thick cream, by the time you remove it.
Remove the vanilla pod and bay leaves from the custard and discard. Remove the dish from the freezer and pour the warm custard over the raspberries. Leave to cool completely, then cover and put in the fridge for at least 6 hours, or overnight for a firmer set.
When ready to serve, toss the demerara sugar with ¼tsp salt in a medium bowl. Scatter the salt and sugar mixture evenly over the surface of the custard, which will still have a slight wobble in the centre when you shake it, then use a cook's blowtorch to melt the sugar-salt crust until the sugar is black in places. Serve immediately with the remaining raspberries.
This recipe featured in the August/September 2022 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
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