RECIPE: Earl Grey or Matcha Crème Brûlée

Calling all my fellow tea lovers, this one's for you :) Sometimes it's so hard to decide which flavour I want, so why not have both? :) I LOVE anything and everything earl grey and matcha flavoured...it's so hard to choose between the two.

I thought I'd share the recipe below for all the fellow earl grey and matcha lovers out there to try! I substituted the earl grey tea bags for matcha powder to create the matcha crème brûlée. Here's the recipe for the Earl Grey Crème Brûlée and the Matcha Crème Brûlée.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Heavy Cream

1 Tbsp of Vanilla Extract (do not include this if you are making the matcha crème brûlées)

6 Earl Grey Tea Bags (or 1 Tbsp of matcha (green tea) powder)

5 Large Egg Yolks

3/4 Cups of Sugar

Extra Sugar to top and torch

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure your oven rack is in the middle of your oven.

2. Combine the heavy cream, vanilla (if you are making earl grey) and tea(earl grey tea bags or matcha powder) in a saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Stir often and make sure the mixture is not boiling, the mixture should be hot to touch but not boiling. Remove from heat and let it cool (remove the earl grey tea bags if you are liking the earl grey crème brûlée)

3. Heat up a few cups of water in the kettle or on the stove.

4. Combine the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is a thick and pale yellow colour.

5. Drizzle about 1/2 cup of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture VERY slowly, while beating the combined mixture on low to medium-low. Once the first 1/2 cup of the cream mixture is added, slowly and the rest of the cream and mix until well combined.

6. Place your ramekins into a rimmed baking sheet and divide your mixture evenly. I have mini ramekins and can usually fill about 9-10 mini ramekins. If you have regular sized ramekins, you should be able to fill 4 ramekins with the mixture.

7. Poor the hot water into the bottom of the baking sheet pan, until it reaches half way up the side of the ramekin dishes. (Tip: place the baking sheet in the oven first, then poor the hot water in the pan, to prevent the risk of burning yourself from the hot water)

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until set. The custard will jiggle but the center should not be liquid. If it is still liquid, throw it back in the oven for a couple more minutes.

9. Remove the ramekins from the pan and let it cool on the cooling rack. (DO NOT remove the whole pan from the oven as the water is very hot - just remove the ramekins, I used some tongs and another baking sheet to transfer the crème brûlées onto a cooling rack)

10. Cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and place into the fridge to chill for a minimum of 3 hours.

11. When you are ready to serve the crème brûlées, take the ramekins out of the fridge, remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle with a fine, even layer of sugar on the top of the custards. Tap out the excess sugar. With a culinary torch hold the flame parallel to the custard's surface. With a slow, even motion move the torch around the surface of the custard. Make sure your flame is hearing the sugar but not directly in contact with the flame (as this will burn the sugar). We want the sugar to be caramelized at the surface. Top it off with some fresh berries and serve immediately.

Happy Baking Friends! :)

Meg

I'd love to hear from you. Hit me up on Instagram, I'd love to see your crème brûlée :)

Instagram: @megglau

Instagram: @eatwithmegg