Crème brûlée
World egg day was established in Vienna in 1996 and is celebrated every year, on the second Friday of October!
This year it lands on the 10th.
So how do you enjoy the humble egg?
Fried, scrambled, poached?……….
There have been plenty of innovations and interesting concoctions over the years however, none of these are for us…..
We say if you got to break an egg, make a Crème brûlée!
Hold on to the egg whites for meringues and use the rich golden yolks to make everyone’s favourite dessert!
INGREDIENTS FOR 4
• 425ml of double cream
• 100ml whole milk
• 1 vanilla pod
• 5 egg yolks
• 50g golden caster sugar, plus extra for the topping
METHOD
• Step 1 Heat the oven to 180C fan. Sit four 175ml ramekins in a deep tin at least 7.5cm deep.
• Step 2 Pour the large and small cartons of double cream into a medium pan with the milk.
• Step 3 Lay the vanilla pod on a board and slice lengthways through the middle, split it in two. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out all the tiny seeds into the cream mixture. Drop the vanilla pod in as well, and set aside.
• Step 4 Put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl & whisk for 1 min until pale in colour and a bit fluffy.
• Step 5 Put the pan with the cream on a medium heat and bring almost to the boil. As soon as you see bubbles appear round the edge, take the pan off the heat.
• Step 6 Pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a wire whisk as you do so, and scraping out the seeds from the pan.
• Step 7 Set a fine sieve over a large wide jug or bowl and pour the hot mixture through to strain it, encouraging any stray vanilla seeds through at the end.
• Step 8 Pour in enough hot tap water into the roasting tin to come about 1.5cm up the sides of the ramekins. Pour the hot cream into the ramekins so you fill them up right to the top.
• Step 9 Bake for 30-35 mins until the mixture is softly set. To check, gently sway the roasting tin and if the crème brûlées are ready, they will wobble a bit like a jelly in the middle. Don’t let them get too firm.
• Step 10 Lift the ramekins out of the roasting tin and set them aside to cool for a couple of minutes only, then put in the fridge to cool completely.
• Step 11 When ready to serve, wipe round the top edge of the dishes, sprinkle 1½ tsp of caster sugar over each ramekin and spread it out with the back of a spoon to completely cover.
• Step 12 Spray with a little water using a fine spray (the sort you buy in a craft shop) to just dampen the sugar – then use a blow torch to caramelise it. Hold the flame just above the sugar and keep moving it round and round until caramelised. Serve when the brûlée is firm, or within an hour or two.