A lovely dessert for chocolate lovers, with the added bonus of sweetly fragrant preserved violets and a crunchy caramel topping, easy to make, which is just as well, as it will quickly become a family favourite. Crème brulée are made in special earthenware dishes which are wide and shallow.
The crème brulée is left to set and become cold before being sprinkled with sugar, which is then traditionally caramelised with a round heated iron placed over the sugar – you can also do this under a hot grill, but be careful not to burn the sugar – it should be golden-brown and will cool to be crunchy, which gives a nice texture difference to the cold cream.
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Difficulty : Easy
Preparation time : 20 minutes
Refrigeration Time : 2 to 5 hours
Serves 6
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Ingredients :
40 cl Single cream
120g White Chocolate
6 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
40g Demererra sugar
80g Crystalized violets
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Preparation :
Preheat the oven to 100°c. Bring the cream to a gentle boil in a saucepan, as soon as it starts to simmer add the white chocolate chopped into small pieces, stirring with a whisk until it is completely blended.
Beat the egg yolks gently in a mixing bowl with the caster sugar then slowly add the cream and chocolate mixture, stirring constantly.
Put the mixture into crème brulée dishes or ramekins then put in the oven for 30 minutes, before leaving to cool in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours – they can be left overnight if you wish to make them in advance.
Just before serving, sprinkle the tops of the crème brulées with demerrera sugar – put under a hot grill for a couple of minutes to caramelise the sugar – being careful not to burn the sugar.
Serve immediately, decorated with the crystalized violets.