Karen Martini’s

You’ll be sweet on these three treats starring luscious berries, plus a fish burger for foodies

Brûléed brioche with eggnog custard and berries; Super simple roasted raspberry jam; Salmon fish finger burgers; Lemon and ginger syllabub with lemon thins

Brûléed brioche with eggnog custard and berries

A sweet bread and fresh berry extravaganza with a Christmas flavoured custard. Make it to create a cafe-style breakfast or brunch experience at home.

Preparation time 20 mins Cooking time 30 mins Serves 8

500ml milk

500ml cream, 35% fat

1 vanilla bean, cut finely

on an angle

1 strip of orange rind

150g coconut sugar,

plus extra 150g

6 Tbsp cornflour

½ tsp ground clove

¼ tsp nutmeg, finely grated 2 tsp ground cinnamon 6 free-range egg yolks 60ml brandy

60g hazelnuts, peeled, lightly

toasted, roughly chopped 2 heaped Tbsp hemp seeds 80-100ml maple syrup

½ tsp sea-salt flakes

1 loaf unsliced brioche, stale,

cut into 2-3cm slices 150g butter, chopped, at

room temperature 200ml raspberry jam, or you can use your favourite fruit jam (see Super simple roasted raspberry jam recipe, right) 250g raspberries, to garnish

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 180°C fanforced (200°C conventional). Put milk, cream, vanilla and orange rind in a saucepan over a low heat. Bring to the barest simmer. Don’t overheat. STEP 2 Put sugar, cornflour, spices and egg yolks in a large bowl, and whisk until well combined. If it’s too dry to stir, add a little warm milk mixture. Spoon about a quarter cup of the warm milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Pour all the egg mixture into the warm milk mixture, and whisk to combine. Pour mixture back into saucepan.

STEP 3 Add brandy and increase heat to medium-low and stir or gently whisk constantly to ensure it doesn’t burn or split. Don’t be tempted to turn up the heat any hotter than medium-low. The custard will thicken after about 6-8 minutes. Remove rind and set aside to cool.

STEP 4 Heat a frying pan over medium-low heat and line an oven tray with baking paper. Add crushed hazelnuts and toss in the dry pan until they start to colour. Add hemp seeds and continue to move hemp and nuts around the pan; you are after a golden brown toast on them. Pour in maple syrup – the pan will sizzle and bubble – and stir with a wooden spoon. After about 2 minutes the nuts and seeds will start to clump and get sticky. Add salt, stir and remove from heat. Immediately pour onto prepared tray and place another piece of baking paper over the top and weight down to flatten, using a second oven tray. Set aside until mixture has set firmly, and you are ready to serve. The crumble will become crunchy as it cools. To speed it up, chill in the fridge or freezer.

STEP 5 Spread both sides of bread slices with lots of butter. Put extra sugar on a plate, and press sugar into both sides of bread slices.

STEP 6 Preheat a large frying-pan to medium heat and gently fry bread on all sides. Do this in batches and wipe out the pan in between to prevent burning from residual butter and sugar. The sugar will melt and become like a toffee on the outside of the bread.

STEP 7 Break or cut up cooled hazelnut mixture into a rough crumb.

STEP 8 When ready to serve, put a piece of brioche toast in a shallow bowl or on a plate. Spoon the custard into a piping bag and pipe on top, or simply dollop onto toast using a spoon. Spoon over a little of the raspberry jam and scatter with a little hazelnut crumb. Garnish with berries. Serve.

Brûléed brioche with eggnog custard and berries Super simple roasted raspberry jam