Rosemary creme brûlée
 
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the custard:
  • 500ml cream
  • ½ vanilla pod
  • 2 10cm stalks fresh rosemary
  • ⅓ cup caster (fine) sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
For the rosemary sugar:
  • ⅓ cup caster (fine) sugar
  • 2 10cm stalks fresh rosemary
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 150C Bake. Fill and boil the kettle.
  2. Place 4 half cup ovenproof ramekins into a high sided roasting pan.
  3. Pour the cream into a heavy based saucepan. Add the rosemary stalks.
  4. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add the seeds and the pod to the cream.
  5. Heat the cream, rosemary and vanilla over a gentle heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. IMPORTANT: Do not let the mixture boil. You want to get it to the point its steaming and it looks like its about to simmer but not actually have any bubbles breaking the surface.
  6. While the cream is heating, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a whisk in a heatproof bowl until pale and fluffy.
  7. Remove the cream from the heat. Pour a small amount of the cream mixture into the eggs and whisk well. Add the cream a little at a time, whisking after each addition, until all of the cream has been added.
  8. Strain out the vanilla and rosemary by pouring the mixture through a fine sieve into a heatproof jug.
  9. Carefully pour the custard into the ramekins. Place the roasting pan with the ramekins in it into the oven and gently pour boiling water around the ramekins until it comes about half way up the sides.
  10. Bake the custards for 35 minutes.
  11. Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven. The custard will still look quite wobbly. Using oven mitts or tea towels gently lift the custards out of the water bath and set aside to cool for about 30 minutes.
  12. Once cooled, put the custards in the fridge to set overnight.
To make the rosemary sugar:
  1. Place the remaining two rosemary stalks into a shallow container and sprinkle over the caster sugar. Cover and store in the pantry overnight.
To brûlée the top of the pudding:
  1. About an hour before serving, remove the ramekins from the fridge and place them on a baking tray. Position an oven rack near the top of the oven and preheat the grill on high. Sprinkle each brûlée with a teaspoon or two of rosemary sugar and gently smooth it to an even layer using the back a spoon. Slide the brûlées under the grill and cook for 3-4 minutes until the sugar is caramelised (watch them very carefully to ensure they don't burn). Take the baking tray out of the oven and return the brûlée to the fridge until ready to serve. Alternatively, if you have a blowtorch you can use this to caramelise the sugar.
Notes
If you don't have a vanilla pod, use a half tsp of good quality ]vanilla bean paste instead.
Recipe by The Fare Sage at https://www.thefaresage.com/rosemary-creme-brulee/