Irish Crème Brûlée Cups with Hazelnut Praline Recipe

Give this delicious dessert recipe a try this week for any dinner party you may be throwing and your guests will be really impressed.

HOW TO MAKE IRISH CREME BRULEE CUPS WITH HAZELNUT PRALINE

Taken from No-Bake Baking by Sharon Hearne-Smith (Quercus)

Ingredients

For the crème brûlée:

• 2 gelatine leaves
• 300ml Irish cream liqueur
• 250ml double cream
• 250ml whole milk
• 8 large egg yolks
• 75g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the chocolate cups:

• 400g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
• to decorate:
• 250g Hazelnut Praline
• 1 tsp cocoa powder

You will need:

• 12-hole muffin tin
• 10 paper muffin cases

Method

1. Soak the gelatine leaves in a small bowl, with just enough cold water to cover, for 5–10 minutes until soft.
2. Pour the cream liqueur, cream and milk into a large, wide saucepan and slowly bring to the boil over a medium heat. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and vanilla extract together in a large jug until smooth and well blended. Remove the cream mixture from the heat as soon as it comes to the boil and gradually pour it into the egg mixture, stirring all the time. Return the whole lot to the saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over a low heat, stirring constantly until thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon.
3. Remove from the heat. Squeeze the excess water from the now softened gelatine and stir into the mixture until dissolved. Pop a piece of cling film directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and leave to cool completely.
4. To make the chocolate cups: line the muffin tin with the cases. Snap the chocolate into a medium heatproof bowl and melt either in the microwave in 30-second blasts, stirring between each go, or over a pan of simmering water, shallow enough that the water doesn’t touch the bowl. When melted, stir and remove from the heat.
5. Spoon a tablespoon of melted chocolate into a paper case and use a small brush to spread it from the bottom up the insides to coat completely. Repeat with the other nine cases. About three-quarters of the chocolate should remain so set this aside for now. Pop the muffin tin in the freezer for 20 minutes, until the cups are set.