Mascarpone and ginger crème brȗlée

I tried to make ginger beer. A complete disaster! I may try again when my ego recovers. In the meantime, I had plenty leftover ginger and no idea what to do with it.

My partner made a rice recipe with mascarpone and there was a fair amount left. What to do with it?

Searching online, I came across this recipe, courtesy of Lorraine Pascale. It is rich and it has a strong ginger flavour. The mascarpone however is very subdued and I wonder if it needs it at all.

I have never done crème brȗlée before and found out that it is quite difficult to achieve a good set. I believe my oven was 10°C too hot. The outside of the brȗlées was set but the inside was runny. Clearly needs improvement.

Serves: 7 persons.

Ingredients:

• 450ml double cream
• 100g mascarpone
• 2 tsp vanilla paste
• 50g ginger, peeled and grated
• 6 eggs yolks
• 7 tbsp demerara sugar

Method:

1. Put the cream, mascarpone and vanilla paste in a pan and heat until almost boiling, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the ginger until well combined. Leave it aside overnight so that the ginger flavour infuses the cream.
   

   

   

   
   
   
2. Preheat the oven to 150°C. Put the ramekins in a roasting tin and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Put the ramekins in the oven.
   
   
   
3. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.
   
   
   
4. Strain the ginger mix through a sieve. Using a spoon, push the ginger mix left in the sieve to get as much flavour as you can, then discard the ginger bits.
   

   

   
   
5. Add the ginger cream to the egg mixture and whisk well. 

   

   

   
   
6. Divide the ginger mixture equally between the ramekins, then place them (still in the roasting tin) in the oven for about 30 min, or until the brȗlées begin to set. They should still wobble like jelly in the very centre, but should not be too liquid, nor completely set. It is very easy to overcook these so check after 20 min to see how they are doing. Then check every 5 min after that as some ovens are much more powerful then others.
   

   
   
   
7. Remove the brȗlées from the oven and from the roasting tin and leave to cool, then place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
   
   
   
8. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of demerara sugar evenly on top of each brȗlée, making sure the top is completely covered. Using a cook's blowtorch, caramelise the sugar until dark brown and crisp. Leave to cool a little and then serve immediately.