Manuka honey brûlées
Brûlée is one of my favourite desserts, and honey is one of my favourite ingredients – so I’ve combined the two! These Manuka honey brûlées are a delicious treat, and a great way to end a special dinner.
Ingredients
- 6 medium free-range egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or seeds of 1 vanilla bean pod
- 3 tablespoons manuka honey
- 1 orange zest, finely grated
- 600 ml cream
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar for grilling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 150°C. In a mixing bowl whisk egg yolks, vanilla, honey and orange zest together until smooth.
- Slowly pour cream into egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour custard into a jug, then pour evenly into six ramekins (the jug will make this easier).
- Place ramekins in a large baking dish. Pour in enough hot water (from the tap is fine) to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully transfer to oven and cook for 50–60 minutes until the brûlées are just set, with a slight wobble in the middle. Allow to cool slightly, then place in the fridge for at least a few hours (or in the freezer for 30 minutes) to set.
- When ready to serve, evenly sprinkle 1 tsp sugar over each brûlée. Use a cook’s blow torch to caramelise the sugar; the caramel will harden after about 1 minute. If you don’t have a blow torch, allow crème brûlées to set in the fridge for at least 8 hours (or overnight) until they are very cold, then sprinkle with sugar and place under a hot grill (with the oven door open) for 1 minute to caramelise.
Notes
Brûlée is essentially a baked custard with a hard sugar shell on top. You know you have a good one when you have to use a spoon to crack through the sugar layer! You can easily make these Manuka honey brûlées without a fancy cook’s blow torch – you can just pop them under a hot grill instead.
This recipe is from the October/November issue of NADIA magazine.