Recipe Avocado Crème Brûlée

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and prepare an ice bath. Make the custard: Bring cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Whisk in ½ cup sugar. Slice a vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the beans into the cream/sugar mixture. (Chef's tip: Place the scraped vanilla bean in a jar of sugar for a week or so to give the sugar a great vanilla flavor.) Pour the custard into the ice bath, moving a spatula through it in a figure-eight motion to cool. Set aside.
• Prepare the custard for baking: Whisk the yolks in a medium bowl. Place the shallow baking dishes on a rimmed baking sheet. Ladle some of the cooled cream mixture into the yolks and whisk to combine. Add the remaining cream to the yolk mixture, continuing to whisk until combined.
• Pour custard through a strainer, then into a measuring cup for easy pouring. Pour ½ cup of custard into each baking dish, then settle the baking sheet in the oven. Pour another ¼ cup of custard into each dish. Using a measuring cup, pour warm water into the rimmed baking sheet, about 1 inch deep around the custard. Cook 45 minutes, checking after 30 since oven cooking times can vary.
• Finish the crème brûlée: Evenly scatter sugar over each creme brûlée (about one teaspoon). Lightly go over the sugar with a kitchen torch until it's caramelized. Repeat this process two more times for each dish. Garnish with raspberries and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Beat egg yolks, 4 tablespoons white sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.
• Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately. Stir cream into the egg yolk mixture; beat until combined.
• Pour cream mixture into the top pan of a double boiler. Stir over simmering water until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon, about 3 minutes. Remove mixture from heat immediately and pour into a shallow heat-proof dish.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to broil.
• In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar and brown sugar. Sift this mixture evenly over custard. Place dish under broiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until custard is set again.

Steps:

• 1. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a small heavy saucepan using tip of a paring knife, then add cream, zest, and a pinch of salt. 2. Heat cream mixture over low heat until hot, then transfer to a bowl set in an ice bath. 3. Chill completely, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. 4. Remove vanilla pod and zest. 5. While cream mixture chills, pit and peel whole avocado, then purée in a food processor with 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice until smooth. 6. Beat cream with 2 Tbsp sugar using an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. 7. Fold in avocado purée. 8. Cut remaining avocado half into 1/3-inch dice, then fold into avocado mousse. 9. Divide mousse among ramekins, then cover each ramekin with plastic wrap. 10. Chill until cold, about 20 minutes. 11. Just before serving, remove plastic wrap and sprinkle 2 tsp sugar evenly over top of each ramekin.Move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth just above sugar until sugar is caramelized and slightly browned. Let stand 2 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Sit four 175ml ramekins in a deep roasting tin at least 7.5cm deep (or a large deep cake tin), one that will enable a baking tray to sit well above the ramekins when laid across the top of the tin.
• Pour the large and small cartons of double cream into a medium pan with the milk.
• Lay the vanilla pod on a board and slice lengthways through the middle with a sharp knife to split it in two. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out all the tiny seeds into the cream mixture. Drop the vanilla pod in as well, and set aside.
• Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk for 1 min with an electric hand whisk until paler in colour and a bit fluffy.
• Put the pan with the cream on a medium heat and bring almost to the boil. As soon as you see bubbles appear round the edge, take the pan off the heat.
• Pour the hot cream into the beaten egg yolks, stirring with a wire whisk as you do so, and scraping out the seeds from the pan.
• Set a fine sieve over a large wide jug or bowl and pour the hot mixture through to strain it, encouraging any stray vanilla seeds through at the end.
• Using a big spoon, scoop off all the pale foam that is sitting on the top of the liquid (this will be several spoonfuls) and discard. Give the mixture a stir.
• Pour in enough hot water (from the tap) into the roasting tin to come about 1.5cm up the sides of the ramekins. Pour the hot cream into the ramekins so you fill them up right to the top - it's easier to spoon in the last little bit.
• Put them in the oven and lay a baking sheet over the top of the tin so it sits well above the ramekins and completely covers them, but not the whole tin, leaving a small gap at one side to allow air to circulate.
• Bake for 30-35 mins until the mixture is softly set. To check, gently sway the roasting tin and if the crème brûlées are ready, they will wobble a bit like a jelly in the middle. Don't let them get too firm.
• Lift the ramekins out of the roasting tin with oven gloves and set them on a wire rack to cool for a couple of minutes only, then put in the fridge to cool completely. This can be done overnight without affecting the texture.
• When ready to serve, wipe round the top edge of the dishes, sprinkle 1½ tsp of caster sugar over each ramekin and spread it out with the back of a spoon to completely cover.
• Spray with a little water using a fine spray (the sort you buy in a craft shop) to just dampen the sugar - then use a blow torch to caramelise it. Hold the flame just above the sugar and keep moving it round and round until caramelised. Serve when the brûlée is firm, or within an hour or two.