Recipes

Raspberry and Vanilla Cambridge Creams

A quintessentially British version of the crème brulee and said to have originated from Trinity college, Cambridge. This delicious dessert is flavoured with a vanilla pod and speckled generously with fresh, jewel-like raspberries.

Serves 6

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Standing time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

Chilling time: 4 hours

1 vanilla pod

600ml/1 pint double cream

6 egg yolks

75g/3oz caster sugar

300g/11oz raspberries

Topping

6 tablespoons caster sugar

1. Slit the vanilla pod along its length, scrape out the black seeds from the inside with a small knife and place in a medium saucepan with the cream and bring just to the boil. Take off the heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes.
2. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until creamy. Remove the vanilla pod from the cream and discard then bring the cream to the boil once more. Gradually mix into the egg yolks until smooth.
3. Divide the raspberries between six x, 250ml/8fl oz, shallow ovenproof dishes with a diameter of 11.5cm/4 ½ inches and a depth of 2.5cm/1inch then stand the dishes in a roasting tin.
4. Strain the vanilla cream over the top. Pour warm water into the roasting tin to come halfway up the sides of the dishes then bake the custards, uncovered in a pre-heated oven set to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 for 25-30 minutes or until just set in the centre with a slight wobble.
5. Lift dishes out of the roasting tin. Cool then transfer to the fridge for at least four hours. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar and caramelise with a cook’s blow torch. Leave to stand for 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Tip: If you don’t have a cook’s blow torch, put the dishes in the base of the grill pan, surround the dishes with ice and cook under a preheated grill with the tops of the dishes near the heat until golden. Put back in the fridge until ready to serve.