Lemon verbena crème brûlée

Method

1. Heat the cream in a pan with the lemon verbena until hot, then remove from the heat and leave until cold. Pour the cold cream through a sieve into a small bowl or jug.

2. Preheat the oven to 140C/gas 1.

3. Whisk the egg yolks in a mixing bowl until combined, then whisk in the caster sugar.

4. Heat the milk until warm, then whisk into the egg yolk mixture with the cold cream, whisking well. Pass through a sieve into a clean bowl.

5. Ladle the mixture into 4 ramekins and cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes -2 hours 30 minutes until set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. At this stage you can chill the ramekins until ready to serve or use straight away.

6. Preheat the grill to very hot, if not using a blow torch

7. To serve: place a strawberry half in the centre of each ramekin. Sprinkle the ramekins with demerara sugar to cover the tops completely and caramelise either using a blowtorch or by placing them under a hot grill until the sugar is bubbling. Leave to cool for 1-2 minutes then serve straight away.