Crème Brûlée

Crème Brûlée, or burnt cream, is a baked custard dessert with a caramel topping. The earliest edition of this recipe can be found in the French cookbook Le Cuisinier Royal (1691).This is my version of the classic dessert. When executed correctly the end result is a soft, velvety smooth creme brulee.

📝 Ingredients

• 600 ml cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 5 ml corn flour
• 100 g sugar
• 5 ml vanilla extract

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Using a small whisk, mix the cornflour into the egg yolks until dissolved.
2. 2In a saucepan, heat the cream but do not boil.
3. 3Remove from the heat, add 50g of the sugar and the vanilla extract. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
4. 4Slowly add the warm cream to the egg mixture, while stirring with a wooden spoon, and strain through a fine sieve.
5. 5Scoop off any foam and divide the mixture into your ramekins.
6. 6Place the ramekins in a deep oven dish and fill the dish halfway up the sides with warm water.
7. 7Cover with foil paper then perforate the foil with a small knife. You want to protect the tops of the creme brulee from scalding, but you also want the steam to escape.
8. 8Bake at 150'C until just set (about 45min). Please note that ovens differ in performance so this might take a bit longer.A good trick is to cook the creme brulee for 45 minutes, then switch the oven off and leave it to cool in the oven for 30 minutes. This gives me a perfect set every time.
9. 9Once cooked, cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
10. 10To serve, sprinkle the remaining sugar on top and brulee with a creme brulee torch. Roll the ramekin from side to side to get an even brulee.