Muscat wine and lemon flavoured crème brûlée

This recipe, based of course on the famous French dessert, is a great idea to finish a rich meal! Light and aromatic this version of crème brûlée can be served all year round

Cooked by Kostas Tsigas,

"Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 8 people):

4 cups of  crème fraîche
½ a cup of sweet Muscat wine 
1 cup of granulated sugar
12 egg yolks

½ a lemon, the zest

8 tbsp of dark brown sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 130°C.

Boil the crème fraîche along with the wine in a small saucepan on medium-low heat. Once the boiling starts, immediately take the saucepan off the heat. Add the lemon zest and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.

In a bowl beat thoroughly the egg yolks and the sugar with a whisk. Slowly add the cream mixture into the bowl, without stopping beating.

Remove the froth that is formed on the top of the mixture with a spoon and then divide the cream into 8 individual ramekins.

Fill one or two (depending on the shape of the ramekins) baking trays with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully place the ramekins into the tray.

Put in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about 90 minutes or until the cream is set but still trembling in the centre.

Remove the ramekins from the trays and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Take the dessert out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes before browning the sugar on top.

Before serving, adjust the oven to "grill", sprinkle with enough brown sugar over the cream and bake as close to the grill as possible until the sugar is caramelized. Alternatively, using a kitchen torch, melt the sugar until a crispy top is formed.

The crème brûlée tastes always better if served at room temperature.