Raspberry crème brûlée

Valentine's Day is almost here. Making it a special day is in our hands, and that's why Virginia, author of Sweet&Sour , suggests preparing a delicious raspberry crème brûlée: the perfect dessert to treat our partner and our palate with the most delicious and romantic touch!

I love Crème Brûlée! They are delicate, soft, elegant, but with that special touch that the crunchy caramel crust gives them. So this year for Valentine's Day, I had it clear, my suggestion for that day would be Crème Brûlée. But not just any Crème Brûlée, but a very special one for such an occasion, a cream that goes down a long way.

This Raspberry Crème Brûlée is special because it has a fresh raspberry filling at the bottom that you will fall in love with, but it also has a mousse-like texture that makes it delicate, light and melting on the palate. As I said, a dessert to surprise your "love one", but also a dessert with which you can end any meal with a winning horse. Because serving crème brûlée for dessert is a sure bet, but in this case, with a surprise and restyling included.

Crème Brûlée are simple, they are nothing more than creams cooked in a bain-marie to which a layer of sugar is added which caramelizes, creating a delicious crunchy crust. In this case the cream incorporates a raspberry coulis which gives it a very special touch, as I say. It is also an ideal dessert, without much effort and which you can have prepared in advance.

I have presented them in the mini ceramic cocottes from "Le Creuset" which will ensure a perfect presentation, because they go from the oven to the table perfectly, and with their little lid, they go through the fridge ensuring that they are perfectly protected. I love them and although I have almost all the colours, for Valentine's Day, red and black seem the best to me.

Let's get on with the recipe.

INGREDIENTS (For 6 mini cocottes )

• 600 ml of liquid fresh cream or cream 35% mg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 egg yolks
• 70 gr of icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons of raspberry coulis
• 18-20 fresh raspberries (not frozen)
• 100 gr brown sugar (Cassonade)

For the raspberry coulis:

• 250 gr. of raspberries
• 2-3 teaspoons of sugar.
• The juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons of water

PREPARATION:

We start by preparing the raspberry coulis

1. We put the raspberries to marinate with the sugar in a saucepan for about 20 minutes. Once they have marinated and have begun to release their juices, we put them on the heat with the lemon juice until they dissolve into a kind of compote. If it is too thick, we add the two tablespoons of water.
2. Remove from heat and strain to remove the seeds. Set aside.

Let's go with the Crème Brûlée

1. Preheat the oven to 110ºC, heat from above and below, and choose a baking dish that will fit the 6 mini cocottes well.
2. Mix the cream or fresh cream with the vanilla extract. Set aside.
3. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until they turn white. In this case I do it with my Kitchen Aid mixer and the whisk attachment, starting at low-medium speed and increasing to high speed. You can also do it with a hand mixer, but this step is important, because it will give our creams that lightness and that mousse-like touch.
4. Add the raspberry coulis and mix well with a whisk or spatula until it forms a homogeneous cream.
5. Add the cream with the vanilla extract and mix again.
6. Place 3 fresh raspberries inside the mini cocottes and pour the cream over them. The same amount of cream in each one. My trick is to do it by spoonfuls, the same number in each mini cocotte .
7. Place the mini cocottes without lids in the oven dish and fill them with hot water until they are 3/4 of the way up. Be careful not to splash the water on our custards. If you want, as a precaution, you can place the lids on while you pour the hot water, but remove them before putting them in the oven.
8. Bake in a preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes. The creams should look firm, although they may be slightly shaky. Once they cool, they will thicken completely.
9. Remove from the oven, allow to cool to room temperature, cover with lids and place in the fridge for about 2 hours.
10. At the time of serving, sprinkle light brown sugar (Cassonade in France) over the surface of each cream and caramelize with a kitchen blowtorch or under the oven grill.
11. We serve immediately.
12. Pure delight. These crème brûlée have a mousse-like texture that never tires and the combination with the caramel on the crunchy surface makes it a real treat, in this case with a red fruit flavour!

Tips:

- Crème brûlée with fresh raspberries should be eaten quickly, as the raspberries release their liquid when they are baked and liquefy the cream. That is why it is also important that the raspberries you use for the base are fresh and not frozen. Frozen raspberries would release water and make the cream watery. If you do not put raspberries inside, they will remain perfect at least from one day to the next.

- To prepare the raspberry coulis you can use frozen raspberries.

- Do the caramelization process at the time of serving, otherwise the caramel will soften.

- Cassonade sugar is what turbinado brown sugar is known as in France. It is the second production brown sugar, and therefore contains less molasses and is moist. You can replace it with regular brown sugar or also with Brown Light Sugar.