July is a great month for British raspberries. Soft and fragrant they are truly at their peak. In this month’s recipe I have added them to a crème brulee, to give a classic dessert a burst of summer freshness.
When making crème brulee there are two points to pay close attention to. First, don’t whisk the boiled milk immediately into the egg yolk mix. Allow it to cool slightly, and then pour it in, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. This will ensure there are no air bubbles, which would otherwise rise in the oven, spoiling the texture of the custard.
The second point is to make sure the baking tray is completely sealed by the aluminium foil. Any holes or gaps will greatly increase the cooking time and could ultimately affect the quality of the dessert. After 20 minutes remove the foil and give one of the ramekins a slight shake. The custard should have a slight wobble but it should not look runny. If it isn’t yet set, cover again, and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
When the crème brulee is set, dust with icing sugar (this will prevent a skin from forming) and chill. To caramelise, sprinkle with caster sugar and gingerly wave the flame from a small blowtorch over the surface until it turns a rich golden brown.
Don’t serve just yet – the sugar will not have set and, more importantly, it will be like molten lava. Place in the fridge for a couple of minutes until the sugar surface is hard to the touch.
Raspberry Crème Brulee – makes 10
570ml Milk
570ml Whipping cream
11 Yolks
100g Caster sugar
1 Vanilla pod
2 Punnets of Raspberries
- Bring the milk & cream to the boil.
- Scrape out the vanilla seeds & whisk into the yolks & the sugar.
- Pour in the hot milk and stir together. Pass through a sieve & skim off the froth.
- Place 3 raspberries in each ramekin then pour in the custard mix.
- Place in a deep baking tray & pour in enough boiling water to come up halfway up the edges of the ramekins.
- Cover with foil, at 140C for 20 minutes or until just set
- Remove from water & dust with icing sugar. Cool
- Sprinkle with a light covering of sugar and caramelise with a small blowtorch (or under a very hot grill).
- Chill for 2 minutes to set the caramel, and then serve with shortbread & a few more fresh raspberries to decorate.
Seasonal Ingredients
Vegetables: Broad Beans, Peas, French Beans, Watercress, Tomato
Fish: Sea Bass, Wild Salmon, Sardine, Crab, Mackerel
Meat: Lamb, Venison
Fruit: Raspberry, Strawberry, Apricot, Cherry, Greengages, Peach, Redcurrant