Fat Friday...

Today is a pretty sad day here.

For me, the sensible [or not] thing to do now is concoct achingly sweet things and eat my feelings. Showing emotion is something I find hard, baking and eating however come all too easy.

Suppose you've never tried Crème brûlée before. Suppose that once upon a time, you decide to try it in a restaurant whilst in the company of some lovely people and, by chance, you realise what you've been missing all your life.

Not the dessert, though of course I'm distraught it took me 21 years to discovery that beauty, but rather the taste for something new. The enjoyment in taking a chance and running with it [not Crème brûlée, don't run with that...please]. The confidence to live in the moment, have fun, and forget about what could, might, or should happen next.

It's realisation's like this that will impact upon the rest of your life. And they don't occur without the help from people whose path you happen to cross. So, to those who've let me into their life in the past three years, no matter how briefly, this one's for you. Give it a go, taste it and see what happens. And hey, if it's not your thing, at least you can say that you took a chance, you tried.

INGREDIENTS [You can find the original recipe here]

Second tip of the day [as well as not running with Creme Brulee] is to not forget a key ingredient when taking photographs. Third tip? Improve clipart skills.

Pre-heat the oven to 150°C // 300°F // GM 2.

Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan and add the vanilla essence.

Place on a low heat and allow to warm through.

Meanwhile put the egg yolks into a large bowl, add 75g of the caster sugar and whisk to combine.

 Pour the now-warm cream and milk mixture into the whisked eggs and sugar and continue whisking until the sugar is dissolved.

Now find yourself an oven proof dish that you'll be serving the Crème brûlée in. Place it into another, much deeper oven proof tray [I used the one we usually use for roast dinners!] and pop the kettle on [not for a cuppa, although if you've got any water spare afterwards, it's never a bad idea is it?]. 

Ladle the whisked mixture into the smaller dish [which is sitting in the larger!] and then pour the boiled water into the larger tray - think of it as giving your brûlée a bath...

Now you need to lug the whole thing over to the oven - be careful, the steam will be hot - and not in a pleasant, unexpected-facial kinda way. Trust me.

The original recipe states the cooking time to be between 30 and 35 minutes, mine took more like 45 minutes until it was evenly cooked. You want a wibbly texture, but one that allows you to touch the top without pulling away any mixture. I ended up ruining the beautifully smooth surface by having to test the centre with a spoon, but that's ok - we're going to cover it in sugar now :)

Sprinkle half of the remaining 40g of caster sugar over the surface and allow to melt and bubble under a grill [or the wrath of a blowtorch if you have one/ are brave enough]. Remove, sprinkle on the last 20g and repeat.

This dessert can be eaten warm or cold. On its own, with fruit, with ice cream, hell, eat it with chocolate sauce if you really want to. But promise me just one thing - eat it in the company of people you love, savour the moments, take in the memories, and enjoy the taste of something new.

xxx