Before you start

Gather your ingredients.

Full quantities and serving adjustments are in the recipe card below.

A few useful notes.

Four small custards are a serving suggestion.

The recipe contains strawberry liqueur; baking does not establish that it is alcohol-free.

Add the sugar crust just before serving.

The cooking plan

How to make Strawberry-Caramel Crème Brûlée.

1. Warm half the cream in a small saucepan and keep it warm. Spread the 60 g sugar in an even layer in a separate heavy saucepan with high sides. Heat over low to medium-low heat, gently moving it with a heatproof spatula until melted and amber.

2. Remove the caramel from the heat. Wearing oven mitts and keeping your face away, add the warm cream very slowly in small additions. Pause as it bubbles. Return to low heat only as needed to dissolve any hardened caramel, then remove from the heat.

3. Stir in the remaining cream and let cool until no longer hot. Whisk in the strawberry puree, weighed yolks and liqueur gently until combined. Strain through a fine sieve.

4. Heat the oven to 300°F. Divide between four ovenproof ramekins of about 150 ml capacity in a roasting pan. Set on the oven rack and add hot water around them to about halfway up their sides.

5. Bake, starting to check at about 35 minutes, until set at the edges with a gently trembling center rather than liquid movement. Check that the center reaches at least 160°F and continue as needed. Lift the ramekins from the water carefully, cool briefly and refrigerate within 2 hours. Chill fully, allowing at least 4 hours.

6. Just before serving, blot any surface condensation. Cover each cold custard with a thin even layer of sugar, about 1 teaspoon. On a heatproof surface, caramelize with a kitchen torch used according to its instructions. Let the crust harden briefly before serving.

Before you start

Gather your ingredients.

Full quantities and serving adjustments are in the recipe card below.

A few useful notes.

Six small custards are a home portion suggestion.

This recipe makes the custard component without an unmolded caramel layer.

Use the whole-egg quantity listed rather than swapping in an equal weight of yolks.

The cooking plan

How to make Vanilla and Lemon Custard Pots.

1. Put the milk, sugar, vanilla seeds and pod, and lemon peel in a saucepan. Bring just to a boil, then remove from the heat immediately.

2. Lightly whisk the weighed eggs in a bowl. Add the hot milk gradually while stirring constantly. Strain out the pod and peel. Cool promptly in a shallow container set in an ice-water bath, then cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. Keep cold overnight and bake the next day.

3. Heat the oven to 300°F. Set six ovenproof ramekins of about 150 ml capacity in a deep roasting pan. Stir the chilled custard gently and divide between them.

4. Set the pan on the oven rack. Carefully add hot water around the ramekins to about halfway up their sides, keeping it out of the custards. Bake, checking around 40–45 minutes, until the edges are set, the centers tremble gently rather than flow, and the center reaches at least 160°F. Continue as needed for the ramekins and starting temperature.

5. Remove the ramekins from the water carefully. Let the initial heat subside, then refrigerate within 2 hours. Chill fully before serving and keep refrigerated; use within 3–4 days.