Lemon Crème Brûlée

This lemon crème brûlée is decadently delicious. I had to test it a few times to get the right amount of lemon in it - too much lemon juice affected the setting of the custard, but too little and you couldn’t taste it. I’ve now found a balance I’m happy with. To bring out extra lemon flavour I rub lemon zest into sugar before whisking it into egg yolks. This releases the lemon oils and makes the sugar beautifully fragrant. The actual zest will get sieved out of the custard, so I want to get all the flavour out of it that I can before this happens. Then there are also a couple of tablespoons of fresh lemon juice in the mixture too, too add a hint of tang.

These are great to make ahead of time, they need ample chilling time, so it’s great when hosting a dinner party to have dessert done and dusted the day before! Just wait to add the crunchy caramelised sugar until serving - it will get soft if refrigerated.

Ingredients

• 360g (1 1/2 cups) heavy cream / whipping cream

• 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar 

• 1 1/2 Tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

• 4 large egg yolks

• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste

• Pinch of salt 

• Granulated sugar for topping

Method

Preheat your oven to 300°F / 150°C. Position the rack in the center.

Bring a jug of water to the boil.

In a large bowl, rub together the sugar and lemon zest until the lemon oils are released and the sugar is fragrant. Whisk in the egg yolks, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt.

Heat the cream in a saucepan until just simmering but not boiling, then remove it from heat.

Gradually stream the hot cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Strain the mixture through a sieve into a jug.

Add four 6-ounce ramekins to a deep roasting pan, then evenly divide the custard mixture among them.

Carefully pour hot boiled water into the roasting pan until halfway up the sides of the ramekins, taking care not to splash water into the custard.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until set but still with a jiggle to the custard. If the center still looks sloshy, it’s not quite ready.

Remove the ramekins from the water bath, and cool them to room temperature on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then refrigerate them for at least 4 hours.

When ready to serve, sprinkle about 1-2 teaspoons of sugar evenly over each cold custard. Caramelize the sugar with a kitchen torch until the sugar has melted and turned a deep golden brown. Allow the caramel to cool, then serve.

Enjoy!