One of my favorite smell is fresh lemongrass or cymbopogon (just to be fancy pansy haha!). The subtle lemony fragrance of a bruised lemongrass can keep me quite happy. I first tried lemongrass crème brûlée in one of those hotel buffet in Singapore and loved it! I tried making it before by adding lemongrass juice to castor sugar, but it didn't work that well and when I was researching online, they mostly have another version which is the lemongrass and ginger one. I don't really fancy the ginger flavour in my crème brûlée so I omitted that and added some vanilla pod instead. The trick about getting the maximum flavour out of the lemongrass besides bruising it is actually to freeze it first, before adding it to the creme mixture to infuse. The basic recipe is obtained from Anne's Food and it's a really simple but foolproof one, in my opinion.
Ingredients (for about four shallow ramekins or two deep ones)
200 ml whipping cream
100 ml milk
2 egg yolks
40 g sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
100 ml milk
2 egg yolks
40 g sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
2 frozen lemongrass stalks
Castor sugar for topping
Steps
- Pour the milk and cream together in a small pot over low heat and add the bruised lemongrass stalks and let it come to a slow simmer, then turn the heat off and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy and set aside. Preheat the oven to 170°C and boil some water for the water bath.
- Scrape the vanilla seeds off the pod and add it to the mixture and mix well, before adding it to the egg mixture, mixing all the time.
- Pour the mixture into the ramekins and place it in a water bath before putting it into the oven for 45 minutes. They should be wobbly when done, let it cool before chilling it in the fridge for at least four hours but preferably overnight.
- Just before serving, sprinkle castor sugar over the surface and torch it(:) until it reaches that lovely caramel color and satisfying crunch when you crack it with a spoon.
Beautiful!! :)
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