On one of the invention tests I did for Celebrity Masterchef, I managed to almost make a crème brulee without even being aware of it! Here’s my favourite recipe…

Makes 6

PREP 10 MINS

COOK 1 HOUR

600 ml whipping cream

4 egg yolks

75 g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways

What to do:

1 Heat the oven to 150C, gas mark 2 and put 6 small

ramekin dishes in a roasting tin.

2 Put the cream in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water,

making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Heat

very gently, for about 5 minutes, until the cream is warm.

3 Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and 50 g of the caster sugar

in a mixing bowl and beat together well. Scrape the vanilla seeds

from the split vanilla pod into the bowl and add the warm cream.

Stir with a wooden spoon until mixed well.

4 Pour the mixture into the ramekin dishes. Pour hot water

from the kettle into the roasting tin so that it comes halfway

up the sides of the dishes.

5 Bake them in the preheated oven for

55–60 minutes. Leave to cool, then chill the ramekin dishes

for several hours or overnight.

6 Sprinkle the tops of the ramekin dishes with the remaining

caster sugar and place them under a hot grill until the top

caramelises. Leave for 5 minutes for the caramel to harden

before serving.

Recipe taken from Lisa Faulkner’s book, published by Simon and Schuster, Recipes From My Mother For My Daughter £20 lisafaulker.co.uk

Check out Lisa Faulkner’s yummy pavlova recipe here.