Recipes
Burnt honey sounds like a mistake. It is not. Taking Pemberton honey just past the point of caramel gives this brûlée a darker, faintly bitter edge that cuts straight through the cream.
It is the dessert worth getting the ramekins down from the back of the cupboard for.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bannister Downs Dairy fresh cream
- 10 tablespoons caster sugar
- 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 6 large Three Ryans egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 cup Pemberton Honey honey
- additional 2 tbsp caster sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 140C
- Place honey in a small pot and heat on medium until honey begins to bubble and darken in colour. let your nose guide you, once it has a slightly savoury smell to it (and small puffs of smoke), remove from heat and add heavy cream, whisking for 30 seconds
- Add sugar, vanilla, salt and continue to whisk until sugar has dissolved
- In a separate bowl whisk yolks until smooth and slowly pour in warmed cream mixture, one ladle at a time.
- Let sit for 10 minutes and skim any foam that has risen to the surface. you’re looking to remove as much air as possible, transfer cream mixture to a pouring jug and then pour into individual ramekins or a large serving bowl.
- Place either individual ramekins or one large serving bowl into a high sided oven tray, with a tea towel underneath to stop them moving around. Place the tray into the oven and gently pour boiling water around ramekins/serving bowl.
- Bake until the centres are “jiggly” but still firm. or if you’re a control freak like me, 80C in the centre. Remove from trays and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat your grill onto its highest setting and sprinkle sugar on the brulee surface. carefully slide the brulee under the grill, as close as possible and watch closely to caramelise the surface, moving as necessary.
- Remove from the grill and allow the caramel to set. take it to the table, crack with a spoon and wow your guests!
The cream, the eggs and the honey are all Southern Forests. Ask at the stalls on market morning and you will have the lot before you get back to the car.
Recipe by Wade Drummond, photograph by Jessica Wyld. Shared courtesy of our friends at the Southern Forests Food Council.