Blueberry Crème Brûlée

Crème brûlée is a wonderful and elegant dessert and is much easier to prepare than it would seem. In my version, blueberries are cooked with caramelized brown sugar and butter and topped with custard. The custard is then baked and finally sprinkled with sugar and caramelized with a torch or under a broiler.

The blueberries are not visible in the photo since they are fully covered by the custard.

Before caramelizing the sugar, the custard needs to be refrigerated for at least a few hours: if the custard is still warm, it gets scorched before the sugar melts.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 6 oz / 170 g blueberries
• 6 egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1½ cups / 360 ml cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• sugar for caramelizing (about 1 tsp per ramekin)

Preparation

1. Set a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add butter and brown lightly.
2. Add brown sugar. Cook until well browned; coffee color is about right.
3. Add blueberries. Reduce heat, cover and cook just long enough to dissolve all the sugar in the juices. Set aside and let cool.
4. Whisk together egg yolks, cream, sugar, vanilla extract and salt.
5. Strain the mixture (important for a smooth custard).
6. Preheat oven to 300°F / 150°C.
7. Equally distribute the blueberries over 6 ramekins (about 1 tbsp per ramekin).
8. Fill up each ramekin with the egg yolk and cream mixture.
9. Place ramekins in a water bath. Bake until the custard is set around the edges, about 40-50 minutes.
10. Let cool, cover ramekins with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least a few hours.
11. Sprinkle with sugar and caramelize under a broiler or with a kitchen torch.

Yields 6 servings