Lemon Ginger Crème Brûlée

Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to splurge on the one you love. Crème Br�lée, the classic French custard dessert, with its decadent cream and hard caramelized shell is my favorite dessert to pair with any romantic meal. Steaks, pasta and seafood all pair perfectly with this sweet dessert, but I love adding lemon and ginger to give it a slight Asian-inspired twist. This year’s valentine’s meal at my house will be spicy ramen, but the star of the show will be Lemon Ginger Crème Br�lée!

• 4 cups heavy cream Prep Time: 5 minutes • ¾ cup white sugar Inactive: 4 hours • • Pinch of kosher salt 12 large egg yolks Cook Time: 20-30 minutes • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped • Zest of 1 lemon • Turbinado sugar or white sugar for br�lée

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F

Combine 2 cups of the cream, sugar, salt, lemon zest and ginger in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a gentle boil. Stir mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from the heat and steep lemon and ginger for 15 minutes.

While the lemon and ginger is steeping, boil two quarts of water in a teapot. Next, place eight 5-ounce ramekins in a deep roasting pan or baking dish. If using shallow ramekins, you may need to use more than one pan. Add the egg yolks to a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the 2 cups reserved cream to the sauce pan with the lemon and ginger. Next, slowly poor about half the cream mixture into the eggs and whisk until well combined. Add remaining cream mixture to the bowl along with the vanilla extract; continue whisking until the eggs, cream and vanilla are well combined. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the cream into a 2-quart measuring cup with a pour spout.

Divide the cream mixture evenly in each ramekin. Place the roasting pan with the dishes onto the middle rack in the oven. Next, carefully fill the roasting pan with the hot water halfway up the sides of the ramekins, making sure to not spill any water into the ramekins. Close oven door and bake until the middle of the custards is just set with a slight wobble in the middle or an instant-read thermometer registers between 170-175 degrees F, 20-30 minutes for shallow ramekins, up to 35 minutes for the deep ramekins. Allow the custards to fully cool before covering with plastic wrap and chilling in a refrigerator for at least four hours and up to two days in advance.

One hour before serving, remove the custards from the refrigerator. Add 1 teaspoon sugar (more if using a shallow ramekin) to the top of each custard forming a thin and even layer of sugar. Be careful not to add too much sugar to the top; you want a paper-thin layer of sugar. Using a kitchen torch, slowly torch the sugar until melted and caramelized in color and smell, about one minute for each crème br�lée. Place the custards back in the refrigerator and allow them to chill up to one hour before serving. February 2021 55