Crème brûlée with orange and cardamom

1 Use an electric whisk to beat the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl with a teaspoon of vanilla until the mixture becomes thick and pale.

2 Place the milk and cream in a medium-sized, heavy-based saucepan and add the orange zest and cardamom seeds. Heat the saucepan over a low heat to start allowing the orange and cardamom flavours to infuse into the liquid. Gradually increase the heat and as soon as the milk and cream mixture starts to come to the boil, remove it from the heat.

3 Whisk the hot liquid directly into the thickened egg and sugar mixture.

4 Return the entire mixture to the washed clean saucepan and over a moderate heat cook out the mixture, stirring continuously until the custard coats the back of a spoon.

5 Sieve the mixture into a jug for easy pouring (and to remove any seeds and excess foam).

6 Pour the mixture into four individual ovenproof ramekins (or shallow ovenproof dishes), then sit the ramekins in a deep roasting tray and fill it with enough warm water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

7 Place the tray in a preheated oven to 140 degrees, or equivalent, for approximately 15 minutes (for shallow dishes) or 25 minutes for deeper ramekins. The custards are ready when they are softly set and barely retaining a slightly wobble in the centre when gently moved.

8 Remove the dishes from the bain marie and allow to cool to room temperature and then transfer to the fridge overnight to set completely.

9 Before serving, remove the set custards from the fridge, sprinkle one or two teaspoons of brown sugar over the surface of each custard and glaze with a blow torch (or place on a high shelf under a hot grill, quickly removing each dish as soon as the sugar starts to burn on top).

Variation: If you are using deeper ramekins, you can add orange segments to the ramekin bases or use them as a garnish on top.