A close friend of mine came back from her vacation with a huge bouquet of lavender and the most delicious apricot jam I have ever tasted in my life. I baked my first brioche to enjoy with the apricot jam (more on that later) and finally got around to trying one of the recipes with a “must-try” sticker from Dorie’s book.
I absolutely love using lavender in custard-based desserts. The Creme Brulee recipe in Dorie’s book does not call for the usual water bath treatment (while the custards bake in the oven), and I was intrigued to try this new method.
Even tough I had to extend the baking time much more than recommended, the result was absolutely fantastic.
Dorie – Thanks again for yet another killer recipe!
LAVENDER CREME BRULEE
recipe from Dorie Greenspan‘s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”
Ingredients
- 1+1/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3 tbsp lavender
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- About 6 tbsp sugar for topping
Method
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 200 F (100 C).
- Put six shallow (an inch high and 4 inches in diameter) baking dishes on a baking sheet.
- Bring cream, milk and lavender to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let infuse for 30 mins.
- In a 1- or 2-quart glass measuring cup (works much better) or medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and vanilla together until well blended.
- Still whisking, drizzle in one quarter of the hot liquid (you might want to rewarm the liquid after infusion) and temper the yolks. Pour in the rest of the liquid, mix and strain it into the baking dishes.
- Bake the custards for 60 – 90 minutes (Note: Even though the original recipe states 50-60 minutes, mine were not set. You might want to check every ten minutes after an hour to make sure they are set), or until the centers are set. Tap the sides of the dishes and the custards should hold firm.
- Let the custards cool until they reach room temperature. Cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Sprinkle each custard evenly with 1 tbsp sugar, then brown the sugar with a blowtorch until it bubbles and colors.
Another great recipe. I guess I will try this one this weekend when I have TIME. It seems it takes forever to bake 🙂
Worth it though.
Thanks for sharing 😉
Selin. (www.selincaglayan.com)
Lavantanın kokusunu pek sevmiyorum ama genede tatlıya verdiği tadı merak ettim.
Hey Cenk,
This looks amazing. I am a sucker for desserts with lavender and I have to try this. My current favorite is a dense chocolate lavender cake from a local baker. I want to marry that cake! If you ever take requests, please make a chocolate-lavender cupcake for me 🙂
Thanks Selin. It is definitely worth it. Hope you like it.
Filiz – Lavantanın kokusunu sevmiyorsan bu tatlıyı maalesef öneremeyeceğim. Uğradığın için teşekkürler.
Dolly – Anything for you, love! Hang in there.
What a awesome recipe,delicate and tasty..I definitely must try this.
That topping looks fabulous! Perfect crunch!
I really do love your pictures! And the recipes sound always so good…
Sylvia, Brilynn, Adina – thanks for stopping by. Glad you liked it.
Cenk, honey – This is a beautiful creme brulee. I suppose a bain marie is not required on account of the oven temperature being so low? I love the inclusion of lavender. I, too, have some brought over from Provence, but I have not yet used them. This might be just the recipe for it.
Made your poppy seed cake and everybody is asking for the recipe, now I must try this even though I would put a little less lavender, I like it, but seems too invasive for me.
Thanks Cenk!
Shaun – Thank you! Yes, no need for a bain marie. Looking forward to reading about your lavender dessert.
Sil Bs.As – I am very glad you liked the lemon poppy seed cake recipe. Hope you like this one, too.
ALthough I didn`t the same recipe I tried lavender for the dessert I alreay had made! Perfect!
Thank you for the good tip.
Your photos are taking my breath away, Cenk – I wish I could deep a large spoon and have some of this delicious dessert!
another great recipe again and breathtaking photos:)
you are my hero in the kitchen:))
thanks..
Very nice looking dessert, Cenk. I am not a big fan of crème brule, may be I’ll like it if I try it with some lavender! I bought a pack and a small bottle of extract from Kew Gardens and so far used it in ice creams and raspberry muffin. Both of them were divine 🙂
amazing atmosphere and photos as always!
After my last experience with “Matcha-Crème Brûlée”, I said: “I swear I’ll never eat Crème Brûlée again and stay away from green desserts”… It was an Zen-Francaise restaurant in Paris :(…
But lavander? It inspires me. Combination of food and flower scents. I am curious. Maybe I can try for one more time…
Lovely photos! I had this at a restaurant in Liege, Belgium. I’ll never forget it because my boyfriend and I walked in expecting an Indian restaurant (which happened to be next door) and sat confused for a good five minutes due to the lack of Indian decor and Indian food on the menu until we realized we had walked into a beautiful, romantic Provençal restaurant!
Another round of mouthwatering pictures! Your creme brulee looks marvellous!
Gizem de bruxelles – Glad you liked it.
Patricia, Dilayra, Zeynep Seda, eni, Joey – Thank you all for your nice comments!!!
B5 – Definitely give it a try.
Preyanka – That’s a funny story!
I don’t cook very much but one of the things I do like to make is creme brulee! This one looks fantastic. I’m always looking for new ways to make creme brulee so thanks for sharing this and for the pictures!
Wow! Just gorgeous! I bet it was silky smooth and the lavander must have really put it over the top. I made her lavender madeleines last year and they were amazing.
Thank you Hillary. I hope you like it.
Tartelette – It was definitely silky smooth. Her recipes rock!
Hey! It’s my first time over here at your site and I’m loving it! ^_^
I just baked a batch of lavender cookies and it just is so interesting how lavender flavours the food! I can’t wait to try this creme brulee~
i planted a small lavender plant to make this recipe…but sadly, my plant didn’t make it! ugh!
wow. lavender.. looks awesome!
Sounds wonderful. I’ll have to try a lavender crème brûlée one as soon as lavender is in season.
Thanks!
I loved this recipe so much I have included a link to it on my recent post (which is all about lavender).
Do have a look if you get a spare moment.
i used dried lavender buds 3 T ended up tasting like pine, came out terrible. perhaps i should have used 3 t.