Crème brûlée with cherry compote

Preheat the oven to 160ºC, gas mark 3. Pour the cream and milk into a pan and set over a low-medium heat. Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl, then use a balloon whisk to incorporate the sugar with a pinch of salt until the mixture looks pale and creamy. Just before the cream mixture reaches boiling point (it will look like it is shivering), remove from the heat. Strain about ¼ of the cream mixture over the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Strain over the remaining cream mixture and whisk well to combine.

Rinse out the pan, then return the cream and egg mixture to it and set over a medium heat. Stir continuously in a figure-of-8 shape using a wooden spoon. Continue stirring until the custard is cooked (10-15 minutes); to check, lift the spoon out of the mixture and draw a line on the back of the spoon with your finger. If the line stays clean, it is cooked. Transfer the cream to a jug and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a kettle of water to the boil.

Put a clean tea towel in the base of a deep roasting tin or oven dish, then put 6 ramekins (about 9cm diameter x 3.5cm deep) on top (the tea towel prevents the crème brûlées coming into direct contact with the heat from the tin or dish). Divide the cream mixture between the ramekins. Pour boiling water into the roasting tin or oven dish so it sits halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Put the dish in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes until the cream mixture is just set but still a little wobbly. Remove the dish from the oven and carefully remove the ramekins from the hot water. Cool for 15 minutes, then chill for at least 2 hours.

For the compote, put the star anise and sugar into a pan with 250ml water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, add the cherries and cook gently for 30 minutes, skimming the surface continuously. Dissolve the cornflour in a little of the wine and add to the cherries. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Leave to cool for at least 2 hours, then remove the star anise and stir in the remaining wine before serving.

To serve, sift ½ tsp icing sugar over each of the crème brûlées, then caramelise with a cook’s blow torch. Alternatively, preheat the grill to high and grill the brûlées until the sugar has melted (about 2 minutes). Leave to cool until the sugar has set, then spoon over the cherry compote and serve straight away.