Crème Brûlée Trio: Vanilla, Pistachio & Coffee

⏱ 75 min · Serves 6

One silky custard base, split three ways — classic Madagascan vanilla, nutty green pistachio, and a deep espresso number. Six little ramekins, three flavours, and that glorious glassy crack of burnt sugar. It looks like a restaurant dessert trolley, but it's really just cream, yolks and patience.

Per serving: 628 kcal · 8.5g protein · 37.0g carbs · 50.0g fat

Ingredients

• 600ml double cream
• 150ml whole milk
• 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
• 6 large egg yolks
• 110g caster sugar (for the custard)
• 40g shelled unsalted pistachios, finely ground
• 1 tbsp pistachio paste (optional, for colour and depth)
• 1 tbsp espresso powder or 2 tbsp very strong hot espresso
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 6 tbsp caster or demerara sugar, for the tops
• Boiling water, for the bain-marie
• 6 shallow ramekins (approx 120ml each)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 140C/120C fan. Sit 6 shallow ramekins in a deep roasting tin lined with a folded tea towel.
2. Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan, add the vanilla pod and seeds and the salt. Bring just to a bare simmer, then take off the heat and leave to infuse 15 minutes.
3. Whisk the yolks and 110g sugar together until pale and slightly thickened — don't over-aerate.
4. Remove the vanilla pod. Pour the warm cream over the yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Strain through a fine sieve into a jug.
5. Divide the custard between three bowls (roughly 250ml each). Leave one plain vanilla. Into the second, whisk the ground pistachios and pistachio paste. Into the third, whisk the espresso powder until fully dissolved.
6. Pour each flavour into two ramekins, filling to just below the rim. Skim off any bubbles with a spoon or a quick pass of a kitchen blowtorch.
7. Pour boiling water into the tin to come halfway up the ramekins. Bake 30–40 minutes, until the custards wobble as one set piece in the centre but are not liquid.
8. Lift the ramekins out carefully, cool to room temperature, then chill at least 3 hours (or overnight) until firm.
9. To serve, blot any moisture from the surfaces, sprinkle each with a thin even tablespoon of sugar and caramelise with a blowtorch until deep amber. Rest 2 minutes so the top sets hard, then serve two per person — vanilla, pistachio, coffee, in that order.