Ginger Crème Brulée

Rainy days had come more than a fortnight ago and apparently they won't drop off soon. The sky opens its womb and pours itself furiously day after day. Heavy drops of water are performing wild dances of crop massacre. When I left Vetren last week the garden was already looking like marshland and I don't even want to imagine what it's like today – strawberries rotting on the ground while still green, courgettes drowned in mud, weeds prospering, roses weeping musty petals. I hope the weather would prove me wrong, but I've already stricken off strawberries and cherries from my baking plans. I'm keeping my fingers crossed there would be at least something left of the apricots, raspberries and tomatoes – the holy summer trinity for me.

Till better times for the garden produce come I'm beating the rainy melancholy and the drenched mood with ginger, which also is a great warm-me-up for the soaking wet days. And I was just looking for an occasion to use the blow torch. Usually it's always Ivan who has all the fun with the blow torch but this time it was my turn.

Ginger Crème Brulée Recipe:
Makes 6 small ramekins 6x3cm

• 200 gr heavy cream;
• 70 gr milk;
• 3-4 cm ginger;
• ¼ vanilla pod;
• 35 gr sugar;
• 3 egg yolks;
• sugar for caramelizing on top.

Preheat the oven to 150ºC.

Cut the ginger into thin lamellas. Combine cream and milk into a heavy bottomed saucepan, add in ginger and vanilla pod(cut lengthwise and seeded), bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover the saucepan and let infuse for half an hour, then strain and discard the ginger and vanilla pieces.

Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the infused cream-milk mixture. Divide amongst 6 small ramekins(6x3cm).

Place the ramekins into a baking dish and pour enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins, just take care not to pour water into the ramekins. Bake until the crème brulée is set but still trembling in the center, around 25-30 minutes. When cooled down, refrigerate the crème for several hours.

Before serving sprinkle an uniform layer of sugar on top of the crème and caramelize it with a blow torch.