Dessert: My Fabulous Crème Brûlée

This is my all-time favourite dessert. Crème Brûlée is French for 'burnt cream'... what is with the French and cooking? If ever you have tasted Crème Brûlée, you will be thinking to yourself: Burnt cream? Are you mad? It tastes like nothing of the sort. Never...

Crème Brûlée is a dessert that consists of a thick custard base, topped with a layer of hard caramel (melted sugar, for the layman). This custard base is normally flavoured with vanilla but you can experiment with chocolate, liqueur or fruit. I prefer the original...

Ingredients:
6 Egg Yolks (Large Eggs)
80ml Castor Sugar
250ml Milk, Full Cream
500ml Cream
5ml Vanilla Essence
Extra Castor Sugar for caramelizing on the top

Method:
1. Beat the castor sugar and egg yolks until well mixed.
2. Heat the Milk and Cream in a pot, until just before boiling point.
3. Remove from heat and add Vanilla Essence, stirring.
4. Add Milk & Cream to the Egg mixture, stirring in.
5. Pass through a sieve, into a pouring jug - for easy pouring into your ramekins.
6. Prepare the Bain-marie and pour the mixture into the ramekins.
7. Place in an oven at 140 deg Celsius, for about 30 minutes. When a knife point is inserted into the top of Crème Brûlée and comes out clean, it is ready.
8. Remove from the oven and remove ramekins from the bain-marie, allow to cool.
9. Refridgerate.
10. Just before serving, sprinkle with Castor Sugar. Place under a grill and caramelize the sugar.

To make this a social event, pass a gas burner around the table and allow everyone to caramelize their own sugar. It is great fun!

Well, there you have it... My Fabulous Crème Brûlée recipe.