Green Tea Crème Brulee

A wonderful green tea-based dessert from the Canoe Brewpub in Victoria, British Columbia.

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

2 teaspoons loose green tea leaves, good quality

4 large egg yolks

Sugar, for brulee topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Put the whipping cream, milk, sugar, vanilla bean and the green tea leaves in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to just to a boil. Remove from heat and cover. Let mixture steep for 15 minutes to develop flavour.

In a stainless steel bowl, whisk the egg yolks. To make the custard, continue to stir egg yolks as you slowly pour the hot cream mixture over the yolks. Strain custard. Pour or ladle evenly into four 6-ounce ramekins or gratin pans.

Bake in a water bath by placing ramekins into a shallow baking pan. Carefully pour enough boiling water into the baking pan so the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake just until custard centers jiggle slightly when pan is moved, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from water bath. Cool custard to room temperature. Refrigerate and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar on top of the custards. Caramelize the sugar with a creme brulee torch or directly under the broiler.

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