Orange blossom creme brulee

By: Richard Burr
From: B.I.Y. Bake It Yourself
Makes: 6

Back when I was younger and fitter – and, frankly, irresponsible – I accidentally signed up for the Paris Marathon one evening after we’d had a few drinks. Luckily, I wasn’t alone; my wife and two of our friends were also full of wine and bravado and, since none of us wanted to back down, there we were. The marathon went as well as can be expected, considering it was France, where they give you small cups of hot wine around the 38 km stage (seriously? wine?). We all survived, felt suitably chuffed with ourselves and spent the next day creaking around Paris looking for somewhere to sit down. This is when we found a little bistro on the Île Saint-Louis where we had a classic lunch of onion soup, beef bourguignon and then these lovely orange blossom crèmes brûlées. The crème brûlée was fantastic and here it is… well, as close as I can get to it after seven years of trying.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
500ml	double cream
1	orange, zest finely grated
5	large egg yolks
70g	caster sugar, plus more for the tops
2 teaspoons	orange blossom water

Tool kit

Quantity	Ingredient
	large roasting tin
6	ramekins
	electric whisk
	cook’s blow torch, (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place 6 ramekins in a large roasting tin and set aside.
Pour the cream into a heatproof bowl, add the orange zest and heat over a saucepan half-filled with water. Stir occasionally.
In a large jug, beat together the egg yolks and the 70 g of caster sugar with an electric whisk until the mixture turns light and glossy.
Once the cream gets close to boiling, pour through a sieve into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Stir in the orange blossom water, then divide the custard between the ramekins. Pour hot (not boiling) water into the roasting tin, so it comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins; be careful not to get any water in the custard.
Carefully put the roasting tin containing the ramekins in the oven and bake for 45–55 minutes until the custard has set, but still retains a wobble in the middle. Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 1 hour, still in the roasting tin, then take them out and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours to cool.
Before serving, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of caster sugar evenly on to the surface of each crème brûlée and either pop under a hot grill until the sugar caramelises or blast with a blow torch. The melted sugar will be very hot, so don’t go digging into it the moment it has browned or, if you do, don’t come moaning to me.

Note

This recipe has a level 1 (beginner) difficulty.

Extras

This is always good to do at a dinner party, because the hard work is finished early, leaving the showy bit (blow-torching) when you’ve got your mates round. It is important to bake these in a tin of water or you’ll end up with orange-flavoured scrambled eggs. Orange blossom water can be found in supermarkets, but don’t overdo it, or it will be overpowering. If you don’t fancy flavouring and – let’s face it – custard is pretty good as it is, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste instead of the orange zest and flower water. Or you can infuse 1 tablespoon lavender in the cream, but remember to strain it out or you’ll be picking lavender flowers out of your teeth all night. You can also plop a few raspberries or blackcurrants in each ramekin before pouring in the custard, to give a few fruity bursts.

Tags:: Great British Bake Off; Baking

Orange blossom creme brulee

Ingredients

Tool kit

Method

Note

Extras

Recipes

Books

Authors

Collections

Store

The Feed