Grapefruit & lavender crème brûlée

I've been watching my big pot of lavender for about 3 weeks before I could decide on a great enough recipe to use the flowers in. By the time I made my decision, the buds were completely in flower which they shouldn't. I guess it has something to do with the flavour being more concentrated in bud form, but for this crème brûlée you only need a hint of flavour so flowers work just as fine. Besides they are more beautiful which is always a plus for superficial me.


Grapefruit & lavender crème brûlée for 6
1 pink grapefruit
2 cups heavy cream
7 egg yolks
3 tbsp cane sugar
6 - 10 fresh lavender buds
sugar to caramelise the tops (~3 tbsp)

Squeeze the grapefruit and place juice and any bits of pulp in a pan. Bring to a simmer and reduce liquid by half.

Add the cream and heat until bubbles begin to form at the edges. Remove from stove and drop the lavender buds inside. Let infuse for up to 30 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and discard the grapefruit pulp and lavender. They did their job in every way.

Blend the egg yolks and sugar until smooth.

Reheat the cream until very hot and add to the eggs one spoonful at the time. Stir well after each spoonful. Don't add all the quantity at the same time because the eggs will curdle and you'll end up with lavender scrambled eggs.

There are two methods of finishing your crème brûlée. One is to gently heat the custard mixture on the stove until it thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon (could take as little as 1 or 2 minutes) and then pour into ramekins. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

The other is to pour the custard directly into ramekins. Place the ramekins in a tray filled with water (lever of water should be the same as level of custard) and bake for about 40 minutes, until the edges have set and the centers are still wobbly. Keep in the fridge.

Unquestionably, the second method will yield a richer taste, but for those not lucky enough to own an oven like myself, the first method is a perfectly viable alternative.

Besides not owning an oven, I was always too lazy to invest in a torch and each time I find myself looking for peculiar ways to make the caramel tops. But the results look spectacular and the taste is the same, so why not?

Oil a big plate with lots of neutral-tasting oil. Melt the sugar on a very low heat until all crystals have disappeared. Using a spoon and some dexterity, pour a tablespoon of melted sugar on your plate in a spiral shape or whatever your favorite shape is. Be creative but remember the shape has to match the size of your ramekins. You might need to reheat the sugar a few times until you finish all the 6 tops, but the smell is nice and the activity quite enjoyable.

Keep the tops in the fridge until serving time. Mine have continued melting on a hot day and were quite hard to remove from the plate afterwards.

At serving time, place a caramel top on each ramekin and sprinkle with lavender buds. Yummy!

This recipe makes 0.15kilos/person of pure goodness.