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