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| Dried Lavender from our garden at the lake |
A fantasy I once had was becoming a lavender farmer. This was back when I was still working at my corporate job, and I had a subscription to Gourmet magazine. In April 1994 they featured a lavender farmer in Oregon or Washington State, and it seemed like that life would be wonderful.
In 1995, Tom and I stayed on Martha's Vineyard in September at the Inn at Blueberry Hill where they made a memorable lavender crème brûlée. We remember how unusual and how good it smelled and tasted over 20 years later. So, I found a Martha's Vineyard recipe from the Sweet Life Cafe which I thought I would try.
It was silky smooth and had a mild lavender taste.
---Barbara
Lavender Crème Brûlée
(Sweet Life Cafe, Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard
originally published in The Coop Scoop, 2010)
Serves 6
1 quart heavy cream
2.5 T. dried or fresh lavender
1.5 t. vanilla extract
2 eggs, plus 6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for the brulee topping
hot water (about 2 quarts)
In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and lavender until boiling. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, whisk vanilla, eggs, yolks, and 2/3 cup sugar.
Slowly add the cream and lavender mixture to the sugar mixture. Don't add it all at once or the eggs will cook, i.e., temper the eggs first.
Let steep for at least an hour, at room temperature, to absorb the lavender flavor.
Strain to remove the lavender buds.
Transfer to a large pitcher or Pyrex measuring cups with spouts so you can easily and evenly fill the ramekins.
Pour into six 6-ounce ramekins.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. (use convection oven if possible)
Okay here's where I don't know enough about making
crème brûlée to give good advice about cooking methods and time. I did not use a convection oven and my custards took hours to set. But they were perfect. Other versions start with a 325 degrees oven. I think the key is to measure the temperature of the custard until it is 170-175 degrees.
Place the ramekins in a large roasting pan with handles. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the outside of the the ramekins.
Bake until the custard is just set but still trembling in the center and temperature reads 170-175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Takes approximately 30- to 40 minutes in a convection oven. (see note above, mine took hours to set.)
Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan, cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
Remove the ramekins from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving time.
Dab custard gently with paper towel if any moisture beads formed during chilling.
Evenly sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup sugar atop the 6 custards.
Use a kitchen blowtorch to caramelize the sugar to form a deep-brown crisp crust on top.
If you don't have a blowtorch handy, preheat broiler with a rack positioned just below the broiler. Place ramekins on a baking sheet under broiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes.
Keep oven door open to avoid overheating the custard, and watch carefully so as not to burn.
Allow the to
crème brûlée to sit for a few minutes before serving.
Note: I ordered the kitchen torch from Amazon. It was inexpensive. And we found the butane canister at Home Depot.
