I’VE done crème brulée before but I make no apologies for doing it again because this is a nice variation on the theme. Still one of the most popular desserts in the restaurant – alongside the sticky toffee pudding – we use various things to flavour them but this is probably one of the more unusual. Of course we normally think of basil as savoury, but give this a try. It really works well.

Serves four

  • One pint double cream
  • Four egg yokes
  • One to two tablespoons of caster sugar – depending on how sweet you wish it
  • A handful of washed fresh basil leaves and stalks
  • Some demerara sugar for the topping

    The first part can be done a few hours before the meal or even the day before. Place the cream and basil leaves in a saucepan and slowly bring to boiling point. While it’s heating, in a bowl whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar together until they go a pale cream colour. Using a stick blender (or pouring it into a food processor) blitz the basil leaves into the hot cream then strain through a fine sieve.

Pour back into the pan, continue heating and as it comes to the boil, pour onto the egg and sugar mixture, whisking all the time. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan and, turning the heat down very low, stir continuously, getting into all the corners, until it begins to thicken.

This tells you that the egg yolks are starting to cook.

Too much and they will scramble, so if you feel that the mixture is getting too hot, remove it from the heat and continue stirring. Once it’s definitely thickening into a custard, pour into four ramekins – or more if they’re small – leaving room at the top for the sugar disk. Cover the ramekins, allow to cool and chill them in the refrigerator.

The time to produce the hard caramel topping is within an hour of serving. If you do it too far in advance the sugar disk can absorb moisture from the air and soften.

I’ve got three different ways of producing the disk.

The traditional, but least easy, way is to pre-heat the grill until very hot, sprinkle the top of each brulée with demerara sugar and place the ramekin close to the heat until the sugar melts. However, it’s not an exact science with a domestic grill and if it’s not hot enough you can end up cooking the custard underneath before the sugar melts.

In restaurants, a blow torch is the common way to melt the sugar. They can be bought from hardware shops and there are even ones designed specifically for the kitchen.

But the ramekin needs tipping as you melt the sugar to ensure it runs evenly over the custard so be very careful of your fingers.

One easy method I’ve tried is to gently heat the sugar in a heavy pan until it melts, tipping the pan a bit to combine it all. It’ll take ten or 15 minutes, but once melted, immediately pour it on top of the brulées. It will harden in a few minutes and will produce that perfect hard disk on top of the cold, creamy custard. To clean the pan, boil up some water in it until the remaining melted sugar dissolves.

Oldfields Eating House,
18 Claypath, Durham, DH1 1RH.
Tel: 0191-370-9595

  • For further recipes go to billoldfield.com
  • Oldfields Pantry ready meals are available from Fenwick in Newcastle or direct from the restaurant on Claypath in Durham on 0191-370-9595 or go to oldfieldspantry.co.uk
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