Lemon and Ginger Crème Brûlée

I was never really a creme brulee person. I always thought it was a bit of a boring dessert.

I had been coming round to the idea of them of late though, and my Mam loves them so I decided to give them a go and I wasn't disappointed. Not only is it really fun to use a blow torch, they also tasted like little pots of heaven!

I adapted a Lorraine Pascale recipe, which included mascarpone cheese along with the cream. I think that this made the creme brulees even richer and creamer than usual, which can only be a good thing!

The recipe calls for grated fresh ginger, which you steep in the cream and cheese mixture for a few hours, along with the lemon zest, so that the flavours can infuse. I left mine for about 4 hours but if you want a really strong flavour then you could leave them all night.

Continue reading for recipe and more pictures!

Serves 6-8, depending on the size of your ramekins/dishes

Ingredients:

• 450ml cream
• 100g mascarpone cheese
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 10cm long piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• zest of 1 lemon
• 6 egg yolks
• 60g soft light brown sugar, plus extra for the topping

Put the cream, mascarpone and vanilla in a pan and heat until just boiling, then remove from heat and add the grated ginger and lemon zest. You can now leave for several hours, or overnight, in order for the flavours to infuse.

When you are ready, preheat the oven to 150C.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until they are pale and fluffy. Gradually add the ginger and lemon cream mixture, continuing to whisk.

Pour this mixture equally into ramekins or shallow dishes and place into a roasting tin. Then pour hot water into the tin to create a water bath.

Creme brulees in their water bath, ready for the oven

Place in the preheated oven for around 30 minutes, or until they have begun to set, but still have a bit of wobble in the centre.

Remove from the oven and the roasting tin and leave to completely cool, before placing in the fridge for a minimum of and hour.

When you are ready to serve them, evenly sprinkle about one tbsp of brown sugar on top of each of them. Caramelise the sugar using a cooks blowtorch until it is dark brown and crisp. If you don't have a blowtorch you can use a hot grill. Leave to cool slightly and serve.