Orange creme brulee

Creme brulee is a wonderful dessert for using your leftover ingredients. Recently I had a couple of egg yolks left and some heavy cream, which are the key ingredients for creme brulee. Since oranges are currently in season I decided to infuse the cream with orange zest and because I just can't seem to make a dessert without cinnamon, I also added a cinnamon stick for some holiday spirit.

The creme brulee had a nice refreshing orange taste and just a hint of cinnamon made it special. You can infuse the cream with basically any flavor you like. Just combine ingredients into the cream and bring to the boil, let it simmer for 5 minutes and the cream will soak up the aroma.

Orange creme brulee

(Makes 4)

Time:

Preparation: 15min

Cooking: 5min

Baking: 35-40min

Cooling: 2 hours

For the custard:

• 250ml whipping cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 50g granulated white sugar
• zest from one large orange (or 2 small)
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract

For the caramel topping:

• 1-2 tablespoons granulated white sugar

Making the custard:

Pour the cream in a sauce pan and add orange zest (peal the orange with a potato peeler so that you get long orange zest strips, try to avoid the white pith), orange extract and cinnamon stick. Place on medium heat and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl of your electric or hand mixer and mix until light and pale. 

After the cream is done simmering take out the cinnamon stick and orange zest and slowly pour the cream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. Pour the custard in a measuring cup through a fine strainer to remove any lumps or cooked egg pieces.

Prepare 4 ceramic molds and pour in the custard. Gently tap the molds on the table to remove any air bubbles. Preheat the oven to 150°C (302°F). Place the molds in a baking dish and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Carefully place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the custard is just set but still trembling in the center.

Remove the ramekins from the oven and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to three days.

Making the caramel crust:

Take the ramekins from the refrigerator and evenly sprinkle over the sugar. Using a kitchen torch gently caramelize the sugar to form a crispy top. If you do not have a kitchen torch you can put the ramekins under the broiler to melt the sugar. Allow the creme brulee to sit for 5 minutes before serving.