Honey Lemon Crème Brûlée
With optional chamomile 🌼
This week I set out on a mission to cakeify crème brûlée, but before getting going on that I needed to revisit the source material. Crème brûlée is an absolute classic, it’s crunchy, it’s creamy, it’s vanilla-y what’s not to like? However it’s been years since I’ve made one so before developing the cake version I decided to have a play around with the original.
Crème Brûlée Layer Cake
I’m on a mission to cakeify all of my favourite desserts, now that tiramisu and sticky toffee are ticked off I thought I should try something that might present a bit more of a challenge. The flavours of crème brûlée are quite straight forward, we’ve got rich vanilla custard and caramelised sugar, in theory these are flavours that should be pretty easy to transfer over to a cake but what makes crème brûlée so good is that crunchy burnt sugar topping. So I set out to make a cake that had that burnt sugar crunch, silky custard filling and caramelised flavour.
I know many people would consider changing the flavours of crème brûlée to be sacrilege but don’t worry, I’m not doing anything crazy, I really think the joy of a brûlée is it’s simplicity so I’m keeping the flavours simple, just slightly different. After seeing Condiment Claire make dandelion jelly I was curious about the flavour and originally tried a brûlée infused with dandelion petals, however I found that the flavour just didn’t come through enough, even after infusing overnight. Instead I made 2 batches, both with a hint of lemon zest and caramelised honey and one that was also infused with chamomile, both were delicious so I’ll leave it up to your personal preferences whether or not to include the chamomile.
To get more honey flavour into the brûlée I’m caramelising it first, this is a great way to add some extra depth of flavour as I sometimes find that honey can be a bit bland when used in desserts. Caramelising it means that we can boost the flavour without adding unnecessary sweetness.
Crème brûlée is surprisingly easy to make, if you’ve never made one before give it a go! And it gives you an excuse to use all those leftover Gü pots, I know you have them hanging around.
Honey Lemon Crème Brûlée
Equipment - 6 ramekins, 2 deep baking dishes, blow torch
Ingredients - makes 6
500g double cream
1 lemon
1 chamomile teabag (optional)
Pinch of salt
110g honey
120g egg yolk/about 6 large yolks
Caster sugar for the tops
Method
Use a vegetable peeler to peel 3 strips of lemon zest.
Bring the cream to the boil and then add the lemon zest, salt and chamomile if using.
Leave to infuse for at least an hour.
Once the cream has infused, strain out the teabag and zest, re-weigh it and heat it until just below boiling.
Pre-heat the oven to 130°C/266°F
Add the honey to a pan and cook on medium-high heat until it becomes amber and starts to smoke, pour in the cream a bit at a time whilst whisking to avoid getting any lumps, watch out for steam!
In a bowl weigh out the yolks and then slowly pour the warm cream and honey mixture over the yolks whilst whisking.
Sieve the mixture into a jug and then weigh 120g into each ramekin.
Place the ramekins in a deep baking dish and fill to about halfway with freshly boiled water, the will help them to bake evenly.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, they should still have a slight wobble, see gif for reference.
Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Just before serving top with a thin layer of caster sugar, use a blow torch to lightly caramelise the first layer before adding another layer of caster sugar, caramelise this layer of sugar well. Doing this double layer method means that you don’t accidentally burn the custard underneath the sugar and that you get a nice thick layer of caramelised sugar crunch!
Chill for a few minutes and then serve!
Loving all the recent recipes 🥰
I don’t suppose you might be doing another batch of cake praline for preorder soon? 🙏🏻
Praise be