Lemon Crème Brûlée by Pavel Berky

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1
  Halve the lemons and carefully scoop out the pulp. Lightly trim the bottom of each half so it stands stably. Place the lemon halves in a baking dish and pour hot water halfway up their height. Place the baking dish with lemons into a preheated oven at 150 °C and leave them there while preparing the cream. This will dry the lemons from the inside.
• 2
  Pour the cream into a saucepan, add the scraped seeds from the vanilla pod and the whole pod. Heat just below boiling point.
• 3
  Place the egg yolks, sugar, and lemon curd into a bowl. Whisk everything with a hand whisk until smooth.
• 4
  Slowly pour the hot cream into the egg yolks, stirring constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.
• 5
  Remove the baking dish with lemons from the oven and pour the prepared cream into all lemon halves, filling them just below the rim. Bake at 150 °C for about 25–35 minutes, until the cream sets but the center still slightly jiggles. Bake in a water bath – without it, the cream could overheat and curdle. Do not overbake – crème brûlée should be firm on the surface but delicately jelly-like inside.
• 6
  After baking, carefully remove the baking dish from the oven. Transfer the lemons to a tray and refrigerate to chill – for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight. Once chilled, sprinkle the surface of each portion with sugar and caramelize with a blowtorch or under the grill in the oven.