Dessert
Crème brûlée
Made ahead, torched at the table — that crack is pure theatre.
Crème brûlée looks like a pâtissier's number, but it's no more than a simple custard you make ahead. The whole show is in torching it at the table: that cracking sugar layer breaks open before your guests' eyes.
Method
- Heat the oven to 150 °C. Warm the cream with the seeds of the vanilla pod to just below boiling and leave to infuse 10 min.
- Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and pour in the warm cream, stirring.
- Divide among ramekins and set them in a baking dish with hot water halfway up (bain-marie).
- Bake 30-40 min until just set with a slight wobble. Cool and chill at least 2 hours in the fridge.
- Just before serving: scatter a thin layer of sugar over and torch until golden (no torch? briefly under a hot oven grill).
The bluff
Torch at the table
The bluff is pure theatre: make the custard a day ahead and keep it in the fridge. Scatter sugar over only just before serving and torch it at the table. That cracking, golden sugar layer — and the sound as the spoon breaks through — do all the work.
Plating — how to make it look expensive
- Serve in a neat ramekin on a small plate with a spoon.
- Aim for an even, glossy torched sugar layer from rim to rim.
- A few fresh raspberries and a mint leaf alongside for colour.
What you say at the table
“One moment, let me just torch it at the table.”
“Yes, that custard's been sitting since this afternoon.”
What to drink
A glass of dessert wine (Sauternes) or an espresso.
Foto via Pexels