Prepare the candied orange. Brush and wash the orange under running cold water. . Wipe it. Raise the zest with a paring knife, taking care not to remove any white skin at the same time. Lay the pieces of zest in small piles on a board and cut them into very thin sticks, about 5 cm long, with a small, sharp knife. Put these sticks in a saucepan, cover very generously with cold water, bring to the boil, then drain the zest sticks. Put them back in the pan with plenty of cold water, bring to the boil and drain. Repeat this operation again.
When the orange zest has been blanched three times, put it in a saucepan with 20 cl of water and 200 g of caster sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes over very low heat.
Prepare the cream. Split the vanilla pod in half. Put 50 g of candied orange (about 3 tablespoons) in a saucepan with the vanilla and fresh cream. Heat gently and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl and mix with a hand whisk, without beating too much.
Add the Grand Marnier to the boiling cream and whisk. Gently pour the cream over the sugared egg yolks, mixing quickly. Filter this cream through a very fine sieve and divide it into the 12 cl capacity ramekins.
Heat the oven to 120°C, thermostat 2/3. Place the ramekins in a large dish or in the oven dripping pan, pour hot but not boiling water up to a third of the height of the ramekins. Put the dish in the oven and cook the creams for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes of cooking, the cream should be set.
Remove the ramekins from the dish, let them cool to room temperature, then put the custards in the fridge for at least an hour.
To serve, sprinkle the very cold creams with brown sugar. Turn on the broiler. Slide the ramekins under the hot grill, as much as possible from the heat source, and brown for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar is caramelized. Watch carefully so you don't risk letting the sugar burn. Serve immediately.
Brown sugar, also sold as cassonade, has a stronger caramel flavor than caster sugar.
Source:The Workshop of Alain Senderens. Recipe by Sottha Khunn.
