For me creme brulee is my ultimate favourite dessert. Many people (including my wife) are on the fence about whether dessert should be all about choc or well, more decadent like a brulee. For me - I say, give me brulee all day, everyday!
I would be lying if I said that the base of this recipe is mine. In fact it's one that I got from the bible of cookbooks Larousse Gastrominque. The milk is omitted that they suggest putting in - makes it a little richer in my book. HOWEVER, what I can lay claim to is the accompanying rhubarb compote - that's all me!
Rhubarb
I just love when rhubarb is in season. Such a great and versatile vegetable. What's that you say? Rhubarb is a vegetable. Come on, AnotherFoodBlogger what are you smoking today? Well, most people consider rhubarb a fruit, probably because you typically see it being used in desserts such as crumble (check mine out here) or in jams, but in fact rhubarb is indeed a vegetable. Who knew? Rhubarb is quite tart and generally requires large quantities of sugar to make it palatable. Another reason we presume it to be a fruit! Now, back to the task at hand - creme brulee.
For many of you I am sure creme brulee is considered quite daunting to make. But honestly its SO simple. In fact I made 3 this morning in about 45 mins start to finish and about 35 of those I spent feeding and changing my daughter and eating my own brekkie.
Catering
Now if that doesn't make you interested in trying this out, then I don't know what will. I made this dish last week too for a catering gig that I did here in Brisbane. What I love about it is the fact it's all pre-made. Oh, and with enough foresight to make a few extra, I can sample one and know that on the day my guests are gonna love it. No rushing around the kitchen staring at the oven on game day praying my freshly baked treats are gonna turn out ok. All you need to do is put a thin layer of sugar on top just before serving, give it a blast of the blowtorch and job's a done!
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Ingredients
Brulee Mix
- 3 egg yolks
- 300 ml cream
- 1/2 vanilla bean cut in half & seeds removed
- 1/4 cup castor sugar
Rhubarb Compote
- 3 rhubarb stalks chopped
- 1/2 vanilla bean cut in half & seeds removed
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 40 ml orange juice
- 40 ml water
- castor or brown sugar for bruleeing
Instructions
Rhubarb Compote
- Place all the ingredients into a saucepan and cook for 4 mins with the lid on and then 4 mins with the lid off. Leave to cool.
Creme Brulee - according to Larousse
- In the bowl, mix together the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla.
- Add the cream slowly, whisk until all combined and then strain through a sieve to remove any lumps.
- Place 1 tbsp of compote on bottom of ramekin and top with brulee mix.
- Place in a bain marie *see tip* and cook in the oven for 30mins @ 180c or until egg mixture is nearly set *see tip*.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool for 30mins and then place in the fridge to set for minimum 1 hour.
- Sprinkle 1 tsp brown or castor sugar *see tip* and using a blowtorch caramelise the top.
Notes
Essential Tools
- whisk
- mixing bow
- lmeasuring spoons/jug
- sieve
- saucepan
- chopping board
- knife
- towel
- baking dish
- 3 or 4 ramekins - 8oz in size
- blowtorch
Tips/Tricks
- many recipes call for you to heat the cream and then mix it into the eggs. They aren't wrong but I find this way works just as well (and so does Mr Larousse!!)
- what's a bain marie you say? This is a vessel (baking dish in this case) that contains hot water. First thing to do is to place a towel in the bottom of the baking dish (this stops the bottom of the brulees from scorching), place the brulee ramekins into the baking dish and then pour hot water until it reaches 1/2 way up the ramekin
- how do you know it's set? simply, give it a gentle shake and the egg should ever so slightly wobble, if it seems liquidy when shaking it then it's not set. Remember it will still continue to cook/set when you remove it so you want a very slight wobble
- sugar - typically it's best to use super fine sugar so you get an even caramelisation on top so castor sugar they say is best BUT personally I find you get a better layer using brown. The key is to have a good even spread of sugar and not to hold the blowtorch too close to the sugar or else it will just burn
Fantastic find, thank you. Was looking for something to sparkle up my fav dessert, and I love rhubarb. Made it sing a bit for Christmas and replaced orange juice with Triple Sec, fab!
Sounds wonderful! Do you put the scraped vanilla beans and the pod in when cooking both sauces … or just the beans?
Rhubarb stalks come in greatly varying sizes here in the US. About how much is 3 stalks?
One cup? More?
Thank you!
emmed343@gmail.com
Emme - not sure how I missed this! I usually cut the bean in half and chuck it in with the rhubarb and then remove it before pouring into the brulee dishes. 3 stalks of rhubarb once you trim them is approx 400g here in Brisbane. I hope this helps