Banana Creme Brulee

Put the cream and the vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring slowly to the boil

Remove from the heat just before the cream boils

Split the pod in half and scrape out the seeds with the point of a knife

Slice the bananas thickly and divide between 8 small ramekins

Put the egg yolks caster sugar and vanilla seeds in a mixing bowl and beat till thick and creamy

Pour the hot milk on to the egg and sugar mixture and stir

Rinse out the milk pan dry and pour in the custard

Heat stirring slowly and almost constantly until the mixture thickens

There are a couple of things to bear in mind: if you make certain that the spoon gets right into the corners of the pan you run less risk of the custard curdling and on no account let the mixture boil otherwise the custard will scramble

Pour the custard through a sieve into the little dishes filling them right to the top

Set aside to cool then refrigerate overnight

Dust the top of each custard with a thin layer of demerara then place under a very very hot grill for a few seconds until the sugar melts to a shiny caramel

Leave to cool and harden

Makes 8