TRUFFLE HONEY & VANILLA CRÈME BRÛLÉE

A little while ago, my husband and I went out to have dinner at a delightful restaurant called Chophouse.  We ate really well and I was particularly impressed by their Wagyu Tartare with truf­fle aioli, pear, pine nuts & white soy dressing and by their Wagyu Striploin with harissa… divine!  Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the passion for and knowledge about the food that the staff showed.  It is not that common to find such dedicated people and their advice really helped us to make the most of our dining experience.  When the time to order dessert arrived, we were not sure our dinner could get better than that… but we were wrong.  My husband ordered their crème brûlée and we were both blown away by the truffle honey they added to it.  It was so delicate, yet you could clearly taste the truffle… a daring yet delicious combination!  As you know, whenever something impresses me so much, I have to try and recreate it at home.  I obviously do not have the Chophouse recipe, so I had to go by memory.  The original recipe used some Frangelico as well, but when we ate it, we could not taste anything besides the vanilla beans and truffle honey, so I decided to skip the liqueur and simply made a classic vanilla crème brûlée and brushed the caramelised top with some truffle honey.  It was perfect and soooo delicious!  An absolute must try if you love crème brûlée and want to make it a little fancier.  It is the perfect dessert for any special occasion!  Enjoy!

5 from 1 vote

Print

Truffle Honey & Vanilla Crème Brûlée

The recipe for an iconic French dessert with a twist: Truffle Honey & Vanilla Crème Brûlée!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 6

Author: Manuela Zangara

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks
• 500 ml – 2 cups heavy cream or thickened cream
• 100 gms – ½ cup sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 6 tbsp Demerara or brown sugar for the top
• Up to ½ tsp per ramekin of truffle honey

Instructions

1. Halve the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds out with the back of a knife.
2. Put the vanilla seeds in a mixing bowl and put the vanilla bean in a saucepan with the cream.
3. Scold the cream over medium heat, then put the fire off and keep it aside.
4. Whisk the egg yolks, vanilla seeds and the sugar in a bowl for a couple of minutes or until pale.
5. Discard the vanilla pod from the warm cream and pour it over the egg yolk mixture, continuing to whisk until well combined.

6. Strain the mixture and put it back in a saucepan. Cook it for a couple of minutes on low flame until the cream coats the back of a spoon. (I found this step to be fundamental. Quickly cooking the cream on the stove has 3 benefits: it dissolves any little foam you may have in the mixture, it helps distribute the vanilla seeds evenly so they won’t sink to the bottom of the ramekins and it shortens the baking time, which is a plus. I also find that it stabilises the mixture and it helps it set without the risk of separating and/or curdling in the oven).

   
7. Place 6 ramekins in a deep roasting pan lined with a folded tea towel.
8. Divide the cream evenly into the ramekins.
9. Pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. (If you see any more foam or bubbles you can pop them by quickly running the blowtorch on the top of the cream before you put it in the oven).
10. Bake, uncovered, in a pre heated oven at 150°C – 302°F for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cream has just set but is still a bit wobbly.
11. Remove the ramekins from the water and keep them aside to cool down. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

12. Sprinkle the Demerara or brown sugar evenly on the top of the crèmes brûlées and melt it either with a blowtorch or by putting the ramekins under the grill.

    
13. When the sugar becomes caramel brown they are ready.

14. As soon as the caramel hardens, gently rub up to ½ tsp of truffle honey on the top.

    
15. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

I suggest you do the whisking by hand and not with an electric mixer as this will help you to get a smoother mixture with very little or no foam/bubbles which is very important when you bake the cream.