Spiced Cranberry and Orange Brulee

An easy, unctuous and very Christmassy do-ahead dessert.

You can use a cook's blow torch for the brulee, but the caramel won't be as crunchy as putting it under the grill.

The Delia Online Cookery School: Make sure your spices are at their best, watch our video showing how to buy and store spices, just click the recipe image to play.

This recipe is from Delia's Happy Christmas. Serves 4

method
Ingredients

Method

Place the cranberries in the dish and add the orange zest.

Sprinkle in the caster sugar, followed by the spices, give everything a good stir and pop the dish in the oven. Cook for 40-45 minutes until the cranberries have started to collapse and the juices have almost evaporated, then leave them to cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine the yoghurt and creme fraiche in a bowl and when the cranberries are cold spread this mixture over evenly, making sure it goes right up to the edges. Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour. When you're ready to make the topping, preheat the grill to its highest setting - let it heat up for at least 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the demerara evenly over the creme fraiche and yoghurt, then place the dish about 7.5cm from the grill and let it bubble and turn a lovely golden-brown colour - this should take about 8 minutes, but watch it like a hawk.

Leave to cool and place in the fridge, uncovered, until you want to serve it. It will keep crunchy for up to 4 hours.