Easter Brulée

I know over Easter I should be thinking about the resurrection of Jesus but (sorry Dad) I have become a lapsed, non-practicing Catholic since I moved to Australia. It doesn’t help to be living with a Church of England heathen. So, to be honest, there was no celebration of the resurrection in our house. There was, of course, plenty of celebration of a four day weekend. If only every weekend were four days. I love it and I especially love that there are two four day working weeks around this long weekend. What to do with all that free time? We decided to stay put this Easter and enjoy ourselves in Sydney. The weather was not conducive to being outdoors which meant there was no guilt hibernating in the house. Although, that said, every time the sun peeped out we made a dash for the park for some fresh air with the crazy dog. We even ventured to the Fish Market on Monday when the Easter Gods were good and let the sun shine for the day.

I decided to brave the pouring rain for the Food growers market. (Jen was also there and took some lovely photos). Usually if I wake up and it’s raining I forgo the market for a few extra hours in bed but this weekend I really wanted to stock up an quality produce that we could enjoy and boy did I stock up. I could barely keep the umbrella up with all the bags I was carrying. Luckily I was there with my friends and they had their beautiful baby girl with them. The poor baby had to be held by my friend so that we could put all the goodies in the pram – is that wrong?

I had plenty of time to potter around in the kitchen much to J’s delight as he got to enjoy all the fruits of my labour. One of the desserts I made in honour of Easter was from this months Delicious magazine. I made these cute little Crème Brulée Eggs. I even added a splash of Baileys to give them an extra kick. They had a great novelty value but I think I prefer the full blown version where you get satisfaction from cracking the top on the dessert. These were lovely but a little too small for my liking.

Creme Brulee Easter Eggs

~Makes 8 eggs with leftovers(or 8 x 100ml ramekins)
If you make these in eggshells. you'll need to use a kitchen blowtorch for the brulee tops, as they can't be put under the grill. You'll have mixture left over, so you can either collect extra eggshells to make more, or use the leftovers to make 4-6 brulees in ramekins. Begin this recipe a day ahead.

8 eggs
1/2 cup(110g) caster sugar
600ml thickened cream
3 vanilla beans, split, seeds scraped
1/2 cup (75g) icing sugar, sifted

Carefully remove the top of each egg using a serrated knife. Separate the egg from the yolk by passing through your fingers.(The eggwhites will keep frozen for up to 1 month). Wash out eggshells and dry carefully with paper towel. Return to the egg carton.
Place yolks in a bowl with caster sugar and beat until pale with electric beaters (try to not incorporate too much air into the mixture).

Bring cream and vanilla pods and seeds to just below boiling point in a pan over medium-high heat. Pour hot cream over the eggs, whisking constantly until combined. Wash out pan, then return custard mixture to very low heat (a simmer pad is ideal for this step). Cook, stirring constantly, for 8-10 minutes until custard is thick and coats the back of a spoon (watch very carefully towards the end or the custard may scramble).

Strain into a jug, discarding vanilla pods,then pour into eggshells, filling to top. Use the remaining custard to fill four to six 100ml ramekins. (If not using eggshells, fill eight 100ml ramekins with the custard mixture.) Chill overnight.

Just before serving, sprinkle brulees with icing sugar. Transfer eggs to egg cups, then use a kitchen blowtorch to caramelise tops until crisp and golden. (For ramekins, you can use a blowtorch or place under a hot grill for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn the sugar.)