Rhubarb and Ginger Creme Brulee....

I had two reasons to be extra happy for this months Secret Recipe Club. My assigned blog was The Ginger Snap Girl and the recipe I chose to make form her blog was creme brulee, It can't get much better or easier than that!

I've been following Gloria's blog for over a year now and I admire her recipes and photography, I can tell she gives everything to each post she publishes. Gloria also was gracious enough to be a donator to my on-line bake sale last year, making some amazing caramels and helping raise some cash for a great cause. I clicked on every recipe on The Ginger Snap Girl before I finally settled on making her creme brulee. There were bucket loads of other choices but I have a thing for the rich creamy custard. 

Whenever I have to choose my Secret Recipe Club recipe from my assigned blog, I always like to change something in the recipe. This isn't because I'm not digging the bloggers recipe or I dont trust that it's not going to be a success. I'll take the recipe and look for inspiration in it to push it in another direction. When I saw Gloria had creme brulee I knew that's what I'd be making. Creme brulee is such a blank canvas for a dessert. It tastes amazing with just vanilla but there's so much more it can be, even as a savory dish. I tasted foie gras creme brulee recently and it was outstanding!

For this creme brulee I chose to add rhubarb and ginger. The fruit wasn't too tart and the ginger came through without being too crazy. I stewed the rhubarb with some honey and sliced ginger...just don't forget to take the slices of ginger out of the softened fruit before adding it to the custards. This dessert is easy to make, in fact it screams to be made a day ahead. It has to cook and then set in the fridge overnight before you can caramelize the top and enjoy those crunchy shards of sugar.

Here's the adapted version of The Ginger Snap Girl Creme Brulee:

For The Rhubarb Filling

Three quarters of a pound of fresh rhubarb, washed and roughly cubed

4 tablespoons of water

2 tablespoons of honey

2 Ounces of fresh ginger, sliced thinly

Place the rhubarb, water, ginger and honey in a small pan. Bring to a simmer and cook until soft and thick, about 20 minutes. Carefully pick out the pieces of ginger and throw away. Scrape into a bowl and let cool. Once cool, divide the rhubarb into the ramekins evenly. Set aside.

For The Custard

1 Pint of heavy cream

1/4 Cup of granulated sugar

4 Large egg yolks

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 Quart of boiled water for the water bath

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Whisk the egg yolks until well blended and light.

Combine the cream and the sugar in a small pot and heat until barely simmering. Once warm add 1/4 cup of the cream mixture to the eggs and whisk until blended.

Gradually add the rest of the cream to the egg and is well blended. Add the vanilla and mix through. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a measuring cup for easy pouring into the ramekins.

Divide the mixture evenly into 4 ounce ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large roasting pan and fill the pan with the hot water until it reaches half way up the sides of the ramekins, be careful not to get water into the custard ramekins. Bake for about 45 minutes or until no longer jiggly in the center. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and let them cool. Once cool wrap with plastic wrap and let set in the fridge overnight.

Just before serving, generously sprinkle granulated sugar on top of each creme brulee and caramelize with a blow torch or place under the broiler moving them around to get them evenly caramelized.