Blue cheese crème brûlée

Method

• step 1

  Heat the oven to 140C/fan 120C/gas 1. In a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, whisk the egg yolks briefly just to break them up. Pour the double cream into a pan over a low heat and gently warm, then crumble in the blue cheese and add the pepper and ½ tsp of salt.

• step 2

  Stir the warm cream for a few minutes with a whisk to break up the cheese until any larger chunks have melted. When the cream mixture is heated through, slowly pour it over the egg yolks, whisking continuously to avoid scrambling the egg, until combined

• step 3

  Arrange six ramekins on a baking tray. Pour enough just-boiled water into the tray around the ramekins to half-fill the tray. Pour the brûlée mixture into the ramekins and bake for 25-30 minutes. If the brûlées look like they’re starting to colour too much, cover with foil for part of the cooking time. The cooked brûlées should have the slightest of wobbles in the centre.

• step 4

  Remove the tray from the oven and allow the ramekins to rest for 5 minutes, then remove them from the tray and chill for at least 30 minutes.

• step 5

  While the brûlées are chilling, make the glaze. Crush the sugars together to a fine powder using a pestle and mortar. Remove the brûlées from the fridge and dust the tops with the sugar mixture. Use a kitchen blowtorch to caramelise the sugar topping until bubbling and browned – if you don’t have a blowtorch, briefly put the brûlées under a grill on its highest setting. Serve the brûlées with your favourite chutney (beetroot works well) and some fresh sourdough bread.