Ingredients (serves 6)
Crème brûlée with Rhubarb (*)
For the rhubarb:
- 200 g (7 oz) fresh Rhubarb (washed and undone of hard parts of the outer skin, keep as much of the red skin as possible)
- 1.5 tblsp granulated sugar
- 10 g (3.5 oz) of fresh butter
For the custard:
- 1 vanilla stick
- 2 dl (7 fl oz) cream (min 30% fat)
- 0.5 dl (2 fl oz) full milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 40 g (2.8 oz) granulated sugar
- granulated cane and candy sugar to sprinkle
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 140°C (284°F).
- Cut the Rhubarb in medium sized pieces. Add butter, sugar and the Rhubarb in a pan and bring to a medium heat, cook until tender. Divide the Rhubarb over 6 rather low ramekins.
- Bring a wide and rather low pan with some water to the boil.
- Split the vanilla stick and scrape out the marrow. Put marrow together with the splits of the stick, milk and cream in a saucepan. Bring on a low heat to the boil. In the meantime whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until light and creamy.
- Take the splits of the vanilla stick out just before the milk and cream are boiling. While stirring, add the egg sugar mixture under the milk and cream. Pour everything, when nicely mixed, back in your saucepan. Put this pan in the bigger one. The bottom of your saucepan should not touch the boiling water below. Heat up while stirring all the time. The egg custard is ready when it start sticking to your spoon. Divide the custard over the ramekins. Let them cool down.
- Place the filled ramekins next to each other in a big roasting plate. Fill the plate half the height of the ramekins with cold water.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. The custard should solidify but remain lumpy in the middle. Take the plate with the ramekins out of the oven. Let them first cool down till room temperature before putting the ramekins, covered with foil, in the fridge.
To serve
- Sprinkle only a little of the 2 different sugars on top of the custard. The sugar layer should be very thin.
- Caramelize the sugar with a little gas burner or below a very hot grill.
Tips
- I found that the use of different sugars give different shades to the caramel.
- If there is no Rhubarb, you can replace it with thick, red currant or raspberry sauce. As the acidity of the red currant or raspberry is different from Rhubarb, adapt the amount of sugar.
- I’m very careful while making egg custard and always use the “ au bain marie” method to prepare it.
- (*) The original crème brûlée with Rhubarb is based on a recipe of Jamie Oliver.
Interested in tasting Patsie’s cuisine on board? Have a look at our cruise regions and calendar.