Crème Brulée
Crème Brulée
This is a delicious and very popular dessert here in UK. Basically, it is a creamy custard with a crisp, caramelised sugar topping, which has to be cracked with a spoon. It can be made well in advance of a meal, even a day before, and left in the fridge. Makes 4
Ingredients
285 ml. carton of double cream
3 large egg yolks
2 tsp. fine corn flour
1 tbsp. caster or fine sugar
A few drops vanilla extract
4 ramekin dishes- shallow bowls, 7-8 cm. in diameter. They must be heat proof.
For the Caramel Topping:
50 gm. or 2 oz. granulated sugar
Instructions
Place cream in a heavy bottomed, small pan and heat on medium heat until almost boiled.
Meanwhile, place egg yolks, corn flour, caster sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl. Beat/whisk until smooth and creamy.
Pour heated cream over it, stirring all the while. I use a wooden spoon for this.
Transfer the whole mix back in the pan and heat slowly, until it becomes thick like a custard. You have to keep stirring it all the time, to stop lump formation. This doesn?t take long, only a couple of minutes.
Pour equal amount into each ramekin and allow the custard to cool. Leave in the fridge overnight or at least for a few hours, to set fully.
Making caramel:
Place granulated sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan. Use a small pan or you will loose most of it stuck to the bottom of the pan. Heat on low heat, until sugar is dissolved and a clear, brown syrup is formed. The sugar is now caramelised. During cooking, you can shake the pan from side to side or stir very gently with a wooden spoon. This whole process takes around 10 minutes or so.
Spoon equal amount of syrup on top of custard in each ramekin dish and allow to set hard.
Juts before serving, crack caramel in each ramekin, by hitting it with a spoon gently.
Notes
You can also make caramel topping by spraying a little water on top of each custard ramekin, then sprinkling a little caster or golden caster sugar on top of each pudding and then caramelising it with a blow torch or by placing it under a hot grill.
Alternative way of making custard:
Beat egg yolk, caster sugar and vanilla in a bowl, add cream and beat some more. Pour this mix into ramekins and cook in an oven at 140-150 C/275F for 1-1 1/2 hour. Once set, caramelise it as above. To check whether it is set or not, gently move the dish back and forth. It should not wobble.
