Making this classic French dessert by conventional methods requires a lot of faffing around with bain-maries and careful checking of the custard mix to ensure the perfect consistency. Cooking individual crème brûlées in a water bath takes away this hassle and ensures a perfect result every time.
Warm the milk and cream together in a small saucepan to 60°C
3
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until thoroughly combined
4
Slowly whisk the warm cream and milk into the egg mixture
5
Pour into individual shallow jars and screw on the lids very tightly
6
Place the jars in the water bath to cook for 60 minutes then remove from the water with tongs and chill them on ice
7
Once set, sprinkle the surface with Demerara sugar and brûlée with a blowtorch
8
Allow the sugar to set for 5 minutes before serving
Variations
Crème brûlées can be flavoured with herbs such as lemon thyme or lemon verbena, spices including pink peppercorns or cinnamon or other, more traditional flavourings such as vanilla, coffee or chocolate.
Serving suggestions
Andrew MacKenzie uses brandy-poached raspberries and mascarpone in his crème brûlée and Mark Dodson serves crème brûlée as part of his Trio of apple desserts.
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How to cook crème brûlée sous vide