Creme brûlée is, in my opinion one of my absolute best desserts around. Actually dishes. Across all categories. A bold statement I know, but I really stand by it. I don’t think I have come across a single person that doesn’t like it? Texturally it is a dream, the cool silky smooth cream contrasting incredibly well with the crisp snap of the caramel. When it comes to flavour the heavenly vanilla cream creates the perfect canvas for the devilishly deep bitter-sweetness of the burned caramel. For me this dessert is all about the juxtaposing textures and flavours; cooling cream against sweet smoky shards. It really is a match made in purgatory.

But. There is a but. Creme brûlée requires fresh cream, which requires me to know I want to make it in advance. Which in turn, would require me to change into a completely different person. One of the things I love most about cooking (granted there are a lot of them) is that you can whip up ‘just the thing’ as the need arises. I love few things more in life than rifling through a pantry, freezer and vegetable drawer to create something that will tick all the boxes of the occasion. I keep a pretty well stocked kitchen for this reason, and, as I try to avoid waste, my stash is pretty heavy on the non-perishables. I rarely buy cream as I rarely use it, and 9 times out of 10 it would go bad before I had decided what to do with it.

And yet, just the other day, completely out of nowhere, an urgent need arose for creme brûlée.

The weather had turned from dreamy sunny skies to thunderous storms in the space of a few hours. Taking refuge indoors, I poked around the kitchen cupboards absentmindedly (as I habitually do) and pulled out the following: Canned coconut milk, coffee extract and my recently favoured black sesame . At the start my mind went to warming coconut latte, but within minutes I was thinking much bigger and much badder. A caramel coconut sesame coffee storm in a ramekin.

This coconut milk based coffee and black sesame creme brûlée obviates the need to have fresh cream on hand and I imagine is also quite handy if you don’t eat dairy, or if you are partial to a parev pud. Despite its humble store cupboard beginnings this convenient confection more than stands up to its fresh cream counterparts.

The slightly bitter coffee and sesame balances the sweetness of the vanilla and coconut beautifully. Although coconut milk can be tricky to work with in a baked custard context due to its high water content, after a little trial and error I found the best results came from…drumroll please…not baking it! Rogue I know as a traditional creme brûlée is baked at a low temperature in a water bath, but a) it’s a faff b) coconut milk benefits from losing some of its water content along the way. This recipe thickens and cooks the custard on the hob in a pan. My version of the classic is already so cheeky on the ingredients and flavour front (nobody puts vanilla in a corner! Except me in this recipe when I invite heavyweights coffee and black sesame into the ring…woops). At this point I felt I may as well go full anarchist with the technique too. (Forgive me, Le Cordon Bleu. I am sure this rebellious cooking is just a phase…)

So to sum up, this brûlée is creme de la creme because it is is:

store cupboard chic
dairy free
daring and dangerous
and bloody delicious

let’s make it!

Espresso and black sesame creme brûlée

Makes 3 small ramekins so double to feed more people!
ingredients for the creme:
1) 1 Tablespoon of trablit coffee extract
2) 60g soft brown sugar
3) 5 egg yolks
4) 1 Tablespoon black sesame paste
5) 1 can full fat coconut milk
6) 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
for the Caramel top:
1) 5 Teaspoons caster sugar
Method:
1) separate the 5 egg yolks and place in a medium size bowl
2) add in the soft brown sugar and whisk briefly to combine
3) add in the coffee extract, the black sesame paste and the vanilla paste.
4) empty the can of coconut milk into a pan and heat until steaming (take it off the heat just as it comes to a boil)
5) pour in a splash of the hot coconut milk into the eggy mixture and whisk immediately. Repeat a few times, increasing the amount of milk you pour in with each go, until fully combined in the bowl.

6) pour the mixture back into the pan and simmer gently on the stove whisking continually to avoid getting scrambled eggs or burning the mix on the bottom.
7) the mix should boil for a few minutes (could take a while to get to a wobbly texture) whilst you whisk until it has thickened to a custard texture. You have to be a bit patient and it might seem like it won’t get there, but it will :)
8) pour the custard evenly into to the ramekins and tap them on the counter to even out the surface. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight if possible
9) when the cream is very cold, sprinkle a thin layer of sugar on top and smooth with your finger. Use a blow torch to caramelise the top.
tip: if you don’t want to use a blow torch you can add the sugar into a small pan and caramelise it on a medium heat. When a dark amber liquid forms pour that on top of the custard and quickly tilt the ramekin in all directions to spread it all around (don’t touch the caramel. It’s hot. Which hurts)