Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Place cream and vanilla into your saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.1
- Meanwhile, combine your egg, egg yolks and sugar
- Once the cream has come to a simmer, temper you egg mix. Pour in small increments through a fine mesh sieve while continuously stirring with a spatula until all the cream is added in.2
- Place the custard mix into a container surface wrapped with cling film to chill for 4 hours but best overnight.3
- Prepare a baking tray and ramekins. Preheat your oven to 100℃ (212℉) fan.4
- Take the custard mix from the fridge, give it a stir and add into a piston funnel and dispense into the ramekins. With a blowtorch run the flame over the surface of the custard mix to pop any bubbles.5
- Place the tray into the oven and fill the tray with water until the ramekins are half submerged.6
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.7
- Remove the ramekins from the oven (be careful of the hot water in the tray) and let them cool for 45 minutes on the counter, then wrap them in cling film and place in the fridge for 4 hours to complete cool and set.
- When ready to serve, remove cling film and add a tablespoon of demerara sugar, swirl the ramekin to spread the sugar and decant the excess sugar. With a blowtorch burn the sugar until it caramelises and forms a nice crust, allow it to set for 30 seconds before topping it with fresh fruit and enjoy!
Notes
- Simmering the cream with the vanilla will allow the vanilla seeds to stay suspended in the final mix, so when you bake the seeds don't all sink to the bottom. If you are using vanilla paste or extract skip this step and combine all your ingredients at the same time.
- To make it easier you can strain the cream separately and then temper your egg mix.
- I like to chill the custard mix overnight. We are basically doing a double infusion, we've already done a quick infusion on heat and this long cold infusion will just enhance the vanilla flavour. You can skip this step if you don't have the time but let the mix cool down in the fridge for an hour or so, baking with a warm mix is going to scramble the custard.
- Baking at a low temperature means the temperature of the custard rises slowly, this will ensure the egg doesn't cook out so fast and scramble.
- A piston funnel isn't necessary, it just keeps everything clean without the mix going everywhere or over filling.
- Use room temp tap water to fill the tray, the water is there to control the heat on the ramekins, you want the water to rise in temperature with the custard mix to prevent the mix from scrambling.
- Time frame of the bake is going to vary depending on the size of your ramekins, mine are 90 ml in volume so it takes about 110g of custard mix. Check the consistency of the brûlée about 15 minutes into the cook to judge how much longer is required. There are 2 ways to check the brûlée are done, the outside perimeter should be set while the centre still has a wobble or with a temperature probe the internal temperature should be 64℃ (147℉).
- If you don't have a blowtorch, fear not. To caramelise your sugar, pre heat your grill (broiler) on high for 5 minutes and place the brûlée under the grill for 1-2 minutes until the sugar has caramelised. Placing the brûlée in a tray of ice water will help reduce the risk of the custard warming through and cooking further.