Ginger Creme Brulee

So second recipe blog, this time Ginger Creme Brulee. The recipe can easily be adjusted to make different flavours, for example I also did a chai batch and an orange batch, but personally I think the ginger was the best. Only thing to note about this recipe is that you need little dishes (I used six 4 fl.oz dishes) to put the creme brulee in, it really needs to be made the day before you want to serve it, and a propane torch of some kind could help.

Ingredients

• 8 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla pod)
• peeled and sliced root ginger

Once you have your ingredients and you’ve separated out the egg yolks, combine the sugar with the yolks and beat until smooth.

Next place the cream and the ginger into a pan and gently bring to a simmer. If you are using vanilla pod scrape out the beans and add both to the cream.  (If you want a different flavour other than ginger simply add it here. For example for orange I just used the peel of an orange. Whatever you use will be removed in the next step so you don’t have to worry about it being big or making the creme brulee lumpy).

Pour the cream through a fine sieve and slowly add it to the egg/sugar mix. You want to do this a little at a time so as to not cook your eggs (Alternatively you could let the cream cool before adding it, pop it in the fridge or place the bowl in ice water). Mix until smooth and them pour through a fine sieve for a second time, and if you’re using vanilla extract add it now.

Now distribute the mixture evenly between your dishes and place them in a baking pan (not tray). You now want to fill the pan with boiling water until the water is about half way up the dishes. This is meant to help cook the dishes evenly throughout and let them set properly. Place in a preheated oven (250°F/120°C) and check after an hour. You want the sides to be set but the centre still to be a little wobbly. If done remove and let cool to room temperature on a rack (this lets the mixture finish cooking).

Once cool cover in cling film and refrigerate. Now verdict is out on how long, some people say at least 3 hours, other say at least 8. My guess is longer the better. I left mine overnight and they were great, though I’m sure if you made them in the morning they’d be ready for dinner.

For serving you have two options, serve them warm or serve them cold. If warm, take out the fridge about 10 mins before serving, and create a thin layer of sugar on each dish. Now if you have a torch slowly heat the sugar until it starts to change colour and bubbles a bit. This’ll probably take a minute or so for each dish. If you don’t have a torch either place them under a grill or in an oven with a broil option, until like the torch the sugar bubbles and changes colour. Let them cool a little and serve. If you want to serve them cold, do same steps as above but do it an hour before serving and place them back in the fridge until you want to serve.

And you’re done! I really enjoyed these. I messed up my timings a little on my first attempt as the kitchen I was cooking in was really cold so the creme brulee I had put in deep thinner dishes didn’t finish cooking properly after I took them out the oven. However the shallow/wide dishes worked a charm! I’ve read that using a vanilla pod tastes way better than using extract so next time I’ll give it a shot.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

Love

RSJ