Lemon Basil Creme Brulee'

Who loves Basil?

Who loves Creme Brulee'?

Who thought of marrying them?

Me neither!

The other day, my friend, Michelle brought me a Ziploc plastic bag filled with pure garden gold ...

Basil

Deep green, fragrant, home-grown basil.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

We discussed the obvious uses for this magnificent herb - pesto being the number one choice - but then she mentioned that she had been served a Basil Creme Brulee' at a restaurant once.

Ding, Ding, Ding!

The baking bells were ringing in my head as I googled "basil creme brulee." Since our next Food Tasting Party was this weekend and the subject was "Uncommon Fruits" I decided on this Basil Creme Brulee' because it paired the basil with lemon - which is a fruit - and one of my favorite flavors in the whole wide world.

I know, lemon is not uncommon, but I didn't care - I was already in love with the idea and had already made up my mind. This was going to be the birthday dessert for one of our party guests, Brad who was celebrating his 34th birthday.

Turns out, Brad looooves basil and lemon and he LOVED my Lemon Basil Creme Brulee'!

And he wasn't the only one!

Toot! Toot!


Lemon Basil Creme Brulee'

1-1/4 Cups Heavy Cream
One Tablespoon Lemon Zest
One Tablespoon Basil, chopped
1/2 of a Lemon, juiced
One Tablespoon Honey
4 Egg Yolks
One Tablespoon Sugar
6 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and slightly foamy. Set aside.
In a medium pot, bring honey and lemon zest to a boil. When the honey has come to a boil add the lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add the heavy cream to the honey and let it warm up to boiling point ( or until you see bubbles forming around the edges). Lower the heat and stir in the chopped basil.
Remove the cream mixture from the heat and slowly, gradually whisk in the yolk mixture. Make sure to whisk constantly to prevent hot liquid from curdling the yolks.
Strain the mixture into a large bowl and then use this to fill the ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large roasting pan and pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up their sides.
Bake just until the creme brulee' is set. but still jiggly in the center....about 45 minutes.
Remove ramekins from the roasting pan and allow to cook to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
When ready to serve, sprinkle brown sugar evenly on top of each creme and then using a torch melt the sugar and form a crispy top.