When I posted my recipe for regular crème brûlée, CampariGirl suggested I should try making it with passion fruit or white chocolate. Since passion fruit appears to be out of season, I opted to make it with white chocolate. White chocolate pairs very well with strawberries, so I served it with strawberries as a garnish. I am not usually a big fan of white chocolate, but in crème brûlée it really works. In my recipe for regular crème brûlée you can find some valuable tips on making it, which also apply to the white chocolate version.

Ingredients

For 4 servings

500 ml (2 cups) heavy cream

100 grams (3.5 oz) white chocolate chips (or white chocolate broken into small pieces)

6 egg yolks

25 grams (2 Tbsp) sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 Tbsp cane sugar

Instructions

Pour 500 ml cream into a saucepan and add 100 grams white chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F.

Heat over medium heat, stirring, until the chocolate has melted, then turn off the heat and allow to cool somewhat. Do now allow the cream to boil.

Put 6 egg yolks in a bowl and add 2 Tbsp of sugar.

Whisk the sugar with the egg yolks…

until the mixture is pale and creamy.

Now add the white chocolate and cream mixture (if it has cooled down enough so that it won’t cook the egg yolks) and stir to incorporate.

Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and stir to incorporate.

Put 4 ramekins in an oven proof dish that is big enough to hold them, or in a deep cookie sheet. Pour the custard into the ramekins.

Pour boiling water next to the ramekins until they are submerged about halfway.

Put the ramekins in the oven, being careful to avoid spilling the hot water into the ramekins. (Baking with the ramekins submerged halfway in hot water like this regulates the temperature and is called ‘au bain marie’.) Bake at 150C/300F until the custard has set, about 40 minutes.

Lift the ramekins out of the hot water to allow them to cool to room temperature.

Once the custard has cooled to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill.

Once it is time to serve, sprinkle the top of the custard in each ramekin with a tablespoon of cane sugar. Use a burner to caramelize the sugar. The sugar should be brown but not black (i.e. burnt). It helps to keep moving instead of holding still at the same spot.

Allow a minute or so for the caramelized sugar to cool slightly and become crispy (which you can check by tapping on top with a spoon). Serve at once.

Wine pairing

Especially when served with strawberries, this it outstanding with a good Sauternes, preferably somewhat aged as that will give the wine a hint of caramel.

Flashback

Linguine with scallops is a delicious Italian pasta dish that has an amazing return on ‘investment’: a low number of ingredients and a simple and quick preparation yields a lot of flavor. This dish takes less than 15 minutes to prepare from start to finish.