This year I’m trying five recipes for Christmas – all delicious, easy to make, festive and gluten free! I started with some Coconut & Amarula Snowballs and a Gluten-free Apple Crumble, before being inspired to make this crème brûlée from Taste of Home. Although I chose some “easy to make” recipes, this one required a bit of effort especially as it involved some intricate steps. It also tested my patience as I had to wait 8 hours for the custard to set! I made a couple of changes to the original recipe, using blueberries for the sauce instead of cranberries, and added raspberries on top for that pop of colour. The results were amazing, and my husband says it beats any crème brûlée from a restaurant! So, it is definitely worth all the effort…

Ingredients

For the Blueberry Sauce

• 1 package (12 ounces) fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Custard

• 2-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
• 10 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 teaspoons superfine sugar

Instructions

For the Blueberry Sauce

• Preheat oven to 165°C. In a large saucepan, combine blueberries, sugar, water and salt. Cook over medium heat for 12-15 minutes or until berries pop, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Spoon 2 tablespoons sauce into each of eight 6-oz. broiler-safe ramekins; refrigerate for 10 minutes. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce until serving.

For the custard

• In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup cream over medium heat until bubbles form around sides of pan; remove from heat. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth. Slowly stir in hot cream. Stir in vanilla extract and remaining cream.

Putting it together!

• Place prepared ramekins in a baking pan large enough to hold them without touching. Spoon custard over blueberry sauce. Place pan on oven rack; add 1 in. of very hot water to pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set (centres will still be soft). Immediately remove ramekins from water bath to a wire rack; cool for 10 minutes. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until cold.
• To caramelize topping in the broiler, place ramekins on a baking dish; let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Preheat oven/grill. Gently blot surface of custard with a paper towel to remove any moisture. Sprinkle tops with superfine sugar. Broil 3-4 in. from heat for 1-2 minutes or until sugar is caramelized.
• Serve custards with remaining blueberry sauce.
• Add raspberries for a pop of colour!

The kids helped me with the toppings, so it was a lot more colourful than what I was going for! Haha! We each had a bowl and LOVED it, even my daughter, who was initially quite sceptical when we were making it. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be able to make crème brûlée! So, if you’re not a very confident baker, you’ll be able to pull this off and look like a pro!

Are you baking this Christmas Season? What are your favourite Christmas treats? Let me know if you try this recipe!