A classic French dessert, the first records of crème brûlée date right back to the seventeenth century. Known in the UK as burnt cream and crema Catalana in Spain, crème brûlée is a simple mixture of eggs, sugar and cream or milk which is cooked until just set, before being cooled and then caramelised with sugar just before serving at room temperature.

Try flavouring the brûlée with herbs such as lavender or thyme or substitute the sugar for honey. For an extra fragrant brûlée, you could try adding spices such as pink peppercorns, fennel seeds or even juniper berries.

Stephen Crane infuses his crème brûlée with tonka beans and serves with a fruity apricot sorbet, while Graham Hornigold encases the custard in pastry in his challenging Strawberry brûlée tart and Mark Dodson showcases an apple-flavoured crème brûlée in his Trio of desserts.