Lemon Crème Brûlée by Pavel Berky

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1
  Halve the lemons and carefully scoop out the pulp. Trim each half slightly at the bottom so they stand stably. Place the lemon halves in a baking dish and pour hot water halfway up their height. Put the baking dish with lemons in 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 pot, add the scraped seeds from the vanilla pod and the whole pod. Heat just below boiling point.
• 3
  Put the egg yolks, sugar, and lemon curd in a bowl. Whisk everything with a hand whisk into a smooth mixture.
• 4
  Slowly pour the hot cream into the yolks while 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 each lemon half just below the edge. 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 gently jelly-like inside.
• 6
  After baking, carefully remove the baking dish from the oven. Transfer the lemons to a tray and refrigerate – for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight. After cooling, sprinkle the surface of each portion with sugar and caramelize with a blowtorch or under the grill in the oven.