Lavender Crème Brûlée

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• ½ liter of milk
• 6 stems of lavender, flowering
• 1 vanilla pod(s)
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 100 g sugar
• Butter, for the molds

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Rest time approx. 6 hours; Total time approx. 6 hours 15 minutes

Make lavender sugar: Pick individual blossoms from a few lavender stems and mix them with 1 kg of sugar. Flavor the sugar in a closed container for a few days (lavender sugar is always good). Bring milk (not low-fat!) to a boil with the split vanilla pod and the lavender blossoms, then let it cool. Remove the vanilla pod and lavender blossoms. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks with 75 g of lavender sugar and stir into the cooled lavender milk. Pour the mixture into buttered and sugar-lined molds and place them in a water bath in the oven at approximately 150°C for half an hour. Then refrigerate the molds for a few hours. Just before serving, sprinkle with the remaining lavender sugar (fish out the blossoms now) and caramelize under the broiler or with a blowtorch. Serve with a fine dessert wine, such as a Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.