Crème brûlée pie

SERVES 8-10

Get ready for rich, silky mouthfuls, with the “burnt“top lending its slightly bitter flavour to offset the creamy sweetness of the custard. This dessert is dreamy!

FILLING

3 cups milk

1 cup cream

¾ cup caster sugar

1 vanilla bean, split,

or 1 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg

4 tbsp cornflour

Pinch of salt

PASTRY

1½ cups plain flour

1 tbsp caster sugar ¼ tsp salt

¾ cup ( 180ml) cold unsalted

butter, diced

¼ cup cold milk, beaten

with 1 egg yolk

Whipped cream and 2 cups strawberries, sliced and flavoured with the juice of

2 oranges, to serve

1 In a saucepan, gently heat the milk, half the cream, sugar and vanilla to a tremble. Remove from heat, then cover and leave for 10 minutes to allow the vanilla to infuse. Scrape the seeds into the liquid, discarding the pod.

2 In a bowl, whisk together the remaining cream, egg yolks, egg, cornflour and salt. Pour in the infused milk/cream, whisking to combine, then return to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Cover the surface of custard with baking paper or cling film, then put in the fridge.

3 For the pastry, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the cold butter and pulse until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add milk/yolk mix and pulse until a ball begins to form. Turn out and pat into a disc shape. Roll out to line a 24cm springform pan. Press onto the sides firmly. Chill in freezer for 20 minutes. 4 Place a baking sheet on low-medium rack and preheat oven to 200°C.

5 Pour the cooled custard into the chilled crust. Neatly cut the excess dough to 0.5cm from the custard level. Place on the baking sheet and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the custard is slightly wobbly in the centre. Set the oven to grill. Transfer the pie to a higher rack and cook for 5 minutes or until the surface of the custard is partially burnt. Take out of the oven and allow to cool, then chill for 4 hours or overnight.

6 Serve with the whipped cream and orange-juice steeped strawberry slices.