Vanilla crème brûlée

This classic crème brûlée recipe is a great marriage of simple ingredients. The rich custard base flavoured with vanilla bean is irresistible with its crisp burnt sugar crust. A simple yet stunning dessert!

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1:05 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 300 ml pure cream
• 200 ml milk
• 2 vanilla beans, split lengthways, seeds scraped
• 100 g egg yolks (from 5 eggs)
• 70 g caster sugar
• 30 g demerara sugar

Resting time 20 minutes

Chilling time 4 hours

Instructions

Preheat oven to 130°C. 

Place the cream, milk and vanilla seeds in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and remove from heat.

Quickly whisk together the yolks and caster sugar in a large bowl until just combined. Pour the hot cream mixture over the top and whisk again until combined. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve then pour into four 180 ml ramekins.

Cover with foil and bake the brûlées in a bain marie for 60 minutes or until set but with a slight wobble. Remove and rest for 20 minutes at room temperature before refrigerating for 4 hours or until cold.

To serve, sprinkle each brûlée with demerara sugar and caramelise using a blowtorch.

 

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.