Ginger and Mandarin Brûlée

This month's host for Sugar High Friday (Ruth from Once Upon a Feast has declared she isn't making the Lime and Ginger Brûlée from Delicious magazine, but here in Oz we've had the luxury of having already gone there a few months ago in March, coz Delicious is an Aussie invention :). I've already had my say about this recipe and posted my version here, but for SHF I offer yet another variation on the theme of this perennial classic. Even though it is essentially a cold dessert, something about the incendiary scorching of the sugar topping makes it instantly adapt to winter. The ginger flavour creates a warming backdrop for the spiky citrus – a flavour match made in heaven. Mandarins are in season right now and bountiful, so make use of them while they’re inexpensive and ripe for the picking.

500 mls of fresh mandarin juice (about a dozen Imperial or large mandys)
50g sugar
500 mls of 35% milk fat cream (pouring or thickened)
1 tbsp of fresh grated ginger
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
7 egg yolks
¼ cup caster sugar
Demerara sugar for topping

Add the sugar to the mandarin juice and dissolve over a medium heat until the juice is simmering. Reduce down to about 1 tbsp of intense syrup. Be careful right at the end as it can burn quickly when it gets syrupy.

Add the ginger and vanilla to the cream and bring just to boiling point Set aside to let the flavours infuse for about 10 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar, but don’t put too much air into them, then strain the infused cream into the eggs, discarding the ginger and vanilla pod. Whisk until combined. Pour back into the saucepan and stir over a low heat until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Pour into ramekins to within a few millimetres of the rim and leave in the fridge for a few hours to chill and set. Just before serving, sprinkle with demerara sugar to thinly cover the set custard. Caramelise the sugar topping with a blowtorch until it forms a crisp crust that you can crack your way into!

Links: Sugar High Friday SHF