Berry-spiked crème brûlée

1.Preheat the oven to 150°C. Place 6 x ½ cup capacity ramekins or glass jars in a roasting pan.

2.Place the cream in a pan. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the scraped vanilla pod to the cream. Heat the mixture to just boiling point.

3.Meanwhile, place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Whisk together until well combined.

4.When the cream has heated, remove the vanilla pod (see tip). Pour the cream slowly into the egg mixture, whisking vigorously the whole time. Pour the custard mixture through a sieve into a jug.

5.Place a few berries or chopped stone fruit in the bases of the ramekins or jars. Pour over the custard, filling almost to the brim. Fill the roasting pan with hot (not boiling) water so it comes half way up the sides of the ramekins or jars and creates a water bath. Place the pan in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes until the custards are set, but still wobbly in the centre.

6.Remove the ramekins or jars from the oven and place them on cooling racks for 30 minutes. Then refrigerate the custards for a few hours or overnight (wrap them in plastic wrap or place in a closed container).

7.When ready to serve, check there is no moisture on the top of the custards (pat them with a paper towel to remove the moisture if necessary). Generously sprinkle each crème brûlée with an even layer of the caster sugar (about 1½ tablespoons of sugar on each). Use a blowtorch to quickly caramelise the sugar without melting the custard underneath (work from the outside in). Set the crème brûlées aside for a couple of minutes so the caramel sets before serving. Alternatively, you could place the crème brûlées under a hot grill to caramelise the topping, but a blowtorch gives a better result.