Raspberry Creme Brulee

I love crème brûlée. The cracking sound of the toffee surface as you break through with your spoon always brings a mischievous grin to my face. I had to make some today, I didn't really care if it was for the blog or not, I just wanted to eat it. Of course I was too lazy to walk to the supermarket to get any extra ingredients, so I worked with what I had. The raspberries in my freezer were the magic ingredient today, giving my crème brûlées a lovely colour and a burst of extra flavour.

However, here is some advice: don't bake angry. Especially when a blowtorch is involved. Don't worry, I didn't burn myself or anything but there was a lot of burnt sugar, swearing and uneven toffee on top of my crème brûlée. Oh well. It still had the satisfying *crack* as I tapped it with a spoon. It's hard to tell from the photos but the raspberries gave the crème brûlée mixture a beautiful blush colour. That, plus the black flecks of vanilla bean were the perfect additions to the creamy custard hiding underneath that caramelised sugar layer.

The flavours in this crème brûlée are lovely on its own, but if you're feeling extra indulgent take a leaf out of Karen's book and serve it with a warm chocolate sauce. I had some leftover chocolate ganache from my Mint Slice Cake from the other day which I warmed up and dolloped on top. Absolute heaven. Dark chocolate and raspberry is such a killer combination don't you think?

So there might not be anything ground-breaking about this dessert, but I love what a bit of raspberry puree does to any sweet dish. I searched around the internet for recipes for raspberry crème brûlées but all of them just threw the raspberries in whole. I wanted to keep my mixture silky smooth and seed-free, and I loved how pink it made the custard. And the best part? There's Chambord in it too! You can do no wrong with Chambord!

Raspberry Crème Brûlée
(adapted from Ina Garten's recipe, serves 6)
1 large egg
4 large egg yoks
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/2 tbsp to top each serve
3 cups pouring cream (min 35% fat, pure cream)
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tbsp Chambord
1 vanilla bean pod or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract/vanilla bean paste

Optional: Dark chocolate ganache to serve (see here for recipe)

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (300 degrees F). Puree raspberries in a food processor and strain to remove seeds. Place egg, egg yolks and sugar and use an electric mixer on low speed to mix until just combined (you could use a hand whisk to combine too). You want to avoid whipping air bubbles into the mixture. Place cream in a medium saucepan with the vanilla pod (split and seeds scraped) or vanilla extract on low heat and bring just to the boil. Strain out vanilla pod. With your electric mixer on slow speed (or while stirring with a hand whisk), gradually pour hot cream mixture into the egg mixture.

Add raspberry puree and Chambord and mix on low speed until combined. Pour mixture into 6 ramekins (it's easier to do this if you are pouring out of something with a spout). Place ramekins on a tray with high sides and carefully pour hottest tap water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Place in oven for 35-40 minutes or until the custards are just set when gently shaken. Remove the ramekins from the water and place on a rack to cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve, sprinkle half a tbsp of sugar over the top of each and use a blow torch or the grill of your oven to caramelise the sugar. Optional: Serve with warm chocolate ganache.