CREME brulees are not particularly difficult to make but the two areas that seem to trouble most domestic and sometimes professional cooks are the potential splitting of the custard and finishing off that nice crispy caramel topping.

Here in this recipe I have added a few teaspoons of cornflour – this will help bind the eggs, cream and milk together and avoid curdling.

As for the caramel topping, it is essential that you make sure the brulee is well chilled before attempting the crisp coating as it will easily sink.

The difficulty that most domestic ovens have is that they are not hot enough – my tip is that you put the grill on full and make sure that the tray is at the very highest point to the heat – of course if you have a fancy little blow torch it will work much better – alternatively try using icing sugar instead of castor – the coating will be thinner, caramelises quicker and requires less intense heat.

LEMON & VANILLA CREME BRULEE

Ingredients (serves 6)

568ml carton double cream

400ml full cream milk

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 vanilla pod split & seeds scraped

4tsp cornflour

2 dsp water

200g caster sugar

6 large egg yolks

6 ramekins about 200ml

Method

1. Put the cream, milk, zest and vanilla pod and seeds in a pan and heat gently until it reaches boiling point.

2. Meanwhile, mix the cornflour and water, followed by the caster sugar, in a bowl. Stir in the egg yolks until smooth.

3. Take a ladle of the hot liquid and whisk onto the egg yolk, mix well then add the rest of the remaining hot liquid.

4. Rinse out the pan and return the mixture to it. Stir over a very low heat for 3-5 minutes until thickened. Strain through a course sieve and divide between six ramekins. Cover and chill overnight.

5. Sprinkle some of the remaining sugar over one dish and caramelise the sugar with a blow torch or under a very hot grill at the highest point. As the caramel cools, it will harden. Repeat with the remaining sugar and then serve. The creams will sit in a cool place for up to 30 minutes but don’t chill them as this will soften the hard caramel.

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