- 75g/2½oz caster sugar
- 5 free-range egg yolks
- 250ml/10½fl oz milk
- 250ml/10½fl oz double cream
- 40g/1½oz dark chocolate, finely chopped
- ½ lemon, zest and juice only
- 1 small bunch mint leaves, picked and roughly chopped
- ¼ tsp peppermint essence, plus a few drops extra
- 4 tbsp demerara sugar
- 250g/10½oz ready-made puff pastry
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 sprigs fresh mint
- 4 twists lemon peel
- 4 shards dark chocolate
- Preheat the oven to 140C/285F/Gas 1
- For the crème brûlées, lightly butter 12 very small ramekins.
- Place the sugar and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk together.
- Place the milk and cream into a pan over a low heat and bring to the boil.
- Gradually pour the hot milk and cream mixture onto the eggs, whisking constantly to combine.
- Place the chocolate into a clean bowl. Pour a third of the custard onto the chocolate and whisk well until all the chocolate has melted.
- Strain the chocolate custard into four of the ramekins.
- Pour half of the remaining custard into a clean bowl. Add the lemon zest and juice, stir to combine, then pour into four of the clean ramekins.
- Add the mint and peppermint essence to the remaining custard and leave to infuse for five minutes. Place a stick blender into the mint-infused custard and blend to combine.
- Pass through a sieve and pour into the remaining four clean ramekins.
- Place the ramekins into a roasting tray. Pour water into the roasting tray to half-fill with water, then transfer to the oven to bake for 30 minutes, or until the custards are just set.
- Remove the crème brûlées from the oven and the roasting tin. Leave to cool, then place into the fridge to chill.
- For the palmiers, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- On a clean flat surface, roll the puff pastry out to ½cm/¼in thick.
- Sprinkle with three-quarters of the caster sugar and three-quarters of the grated nutmeg.
- Starting at one end of the pastry, roll the pastry up towards the middle of the pastry.
- Turn the pastry around and roll the other side up towards the middle to leave two even rolls of pastry meeting in the middle.
- Cut the rolled up pastry into 1cm/½ thick slices. Place each slice flat onto a work surface and flatten out slightly with a rolling pin.
- Place the pastry pieces onto a baking sheet and dust with the remaining sugar and nutmeg.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- To serve, when the crème brûlées are cold and fully set, slide a knife gently around the edge of each of the custards and turn each onto a large serving plate.
- Place one third of the demerara sugar into a clean bowl with a little drop of the peppermint essence. Sprinkle on top of the mint crème brûlées.
- Top the lemon and chocolate brûlées with the remaining demerara sugar.
- Using a mini-blowtorch, heat the sugar topping of each crème brûlée, until the sugar melts and caramelises.
- When the caramel has cooled, garnish each mint crème brûlée with a sprig of mint; garnish the lemon crème brûlées with a twist of lemon peel; and garnish the chocolate crème brûlées with some shards of chocolate.
- Add several palmiers to the plate and serve.