Créme Brûlée

What Is Créme Brûlée?

Also known as burnt cream or Trinity cream, Créme brûlée is a decadent French dessert that is made with a rich pudding-like custard base and a sweet caramelized sugar crust.

Finished off with a chef’s blow torch – so fun! – the sugar topping hardens to form a thin, crunchy layer that provides a crisp contrast to the smooth and creamy custard underneath.

Often thought of as a delicacy reserved for fancy restaurants, we discovered that créme brûlée is actually EASY to make from the comfort of your own home. This créme brûlée recipe is SO much better than restaurant versions; you’ll simply have to try it to know it.

Tips for how to make the Best Créme Brûlée

• Use high-quality ingredients. Given that there are so few items used to make créme brûlée, it’s important to make sure they’re high-quality. For this reason, we recommend using whole vanilla beans instead of imitation vanilla extract.
• Temper the eggs. Tempering means adding small amounts of hot water, or in this case cream, to the egg yolks slowly while stirring constantly. This allows the eggs to warm without cooking and turning into scrambled eggs.
• Don’t overcook the custard. You’ll want to pull the custard out of the oven before it looks fully done. When removed from the oven, it should still be slightly jiggly like a cheesecake, the top should look glossy, and the center should be springy or slightly spongey to the touch.
• Torch the sugar. The easiest way to create the sugary coating for the top of your créme brûlée is to use a kitchen torch and work quickly moving it in small circles. Holding the flame in one spot for too long will cause the sugar to burn!
• Cool to room temperature. For the best results, we recommend chilling the baked custard in the fridge overnight. This allows for a smooth top and helps create the caramelized crust.

More to Bake and Eat

Créme Brûlée

This easy créme brûlée recipe is rich, creamy, and tastier than any version you’ll find in a restaurant! Top it with fresh berries for a dessert that will leave your guests raving.

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 35 mins

Chill Time: 3 hrs

Total Time: 5 hrs 5 mins

Servings: 6

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 whole Madagascar vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 5 egg yolks, large, take care that no bits of whites are included
• Kettle of boiling water
• 12 tsp granulated sugar
• fresh berries for serving

• Preheat oven to 325F, with rack on lower middle position.

• In medium saucepan, combine cream and sugar, mixing well. Use a small knife to scrape all seeds from vanilla bean, into the saucepan. Once all seeds have been added to saucepan, add the empty vanilla bean into saucepan.

• Over medium heat, stir until sugar completely dissolves and the creamy mixture comes to a simmer. Cover pan and reduce heat to lowest setting. Simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover, and remove the empty bean and any other pieces of the bean. Set aside to let cool about 10 minutes.

• In medium bowl, whisk yolks until well blended. Very carefully and in a very slow stream, whisk in the hot cream mixture into the yolks, just to combine.

• Divide custard evenly among six individual 4oz ramekins Place ramekins in a glass 9×13 baking dish. Pour enough of the boiling water into the pan to go halfway up the sides of ramekins. Place baking dish in oven and bake about 35 minutes. Custards should be almost set in the center when pan is gently shaken.

• Remove ramekins from baking pan and let cool to room temp. Chill in fridge for up to 2 days; a minimum of 3 hours.

• When ready to serve, sprinkle 2 tsp sugar evenly over each chilled custard. Work a blowtorch over one custard at a time. Move flame quickly back and forth over the sugar topping until it reaches desired caramel appearance. Repeat with other custards. Serve immediately with fresh berries.

Whole vanilla bean is highly recommended. We don’t recommend substituting with vanilla extract, as the vanilla bean pods make ALL the difference. That said, if you must, you may try 2 TB real vanilla extract instead. If using extract, add it in at the end of the simmering stage, as extracts lose flavor the longer it’s cooked.

 

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Serving: 1ramekin | Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 252mg | Sodium: 29mg | Potassium: 92mg | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 1383IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 1mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Amerian, French

Diet: Gluten Free

Method: Bake