This French delicacy is the perfect light and creamy dessert. It is served cold with a caramelized sugar crust on top.
Recipe Origins
The first recipe for Crème Brûlée was found in a French cookbook in the late 1600s, though it didn’t get it’s name until 1702.
The name of this dish, literally translated into English means Burnt Cream, because the cream-based custard has a layer of “burnt” (really caramelized) sugar on top.
After it’s appearance in the 1600/1700s, the dish didn’t show up in any more cookbooks until the 1900s. At this point, it became a popular dish in New York in 1980 and is thought to have been repopularized by Sirio Maccioni at his restaurant, Le Cirque.
What is Crème Brûlée?
Crème Brûlée is a light and creamy French dessert. It is made by creating a quick custard, then baking it.
After baking, the custard is topped with a thin layer of granulated sugar and a blow torch is used to caramelize that sugar into a crisp topping.
It is served cold and is wonderful with fresh berries on top!
Why Make this Recipe
- Simple: It’s very rare to see homemade Crème Brûlée, so it is often assumed to be a difficult dish to prepare. It is, however, quite simple, with only 4 main steps (Mix eggs, mix cream into eggs, bake, top with sugar).
- “Travel” to France: If you’ve ever wanted to visit Paris (or France in general) you can now do so from your kitchen! This is the perfect recipe to give you a taste of that delicious and infamous French Cuisine.
What Do I Need to Make this Recipe?
Ingredients
- Egg Yolks: You can use these tips to separate the whites from yolks
- Sugar: I use white, granulated sugar
- Vanilla Bean: I would strongly recommend using a vanilla bean if possible, as it creates such a flavor difference! However, this might not always be accessible, in which case, about 2 tsp of vanilla should do the trick
- Heavy Whipping Cream: You can also use normal cream if necessary
- Salt
Tools
- Kitchen Torch: I personally used a torch that my dad let me borrow (yes, for construction things), so I didn’t use a kitchen torch. But if you need one, here is one for sale on Amazon (though I haven’t tried it out myself!)
- Small and Medium Pan: I use this set from CuisinArt
- Whisk
- Large Mixing Bowl
- 6 oz Ramekins
- 9×13 Baking Pan: I used a dark, nonstick baking pan, very similar to this one
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Prep the Ingredients
Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil while you perform the next steps.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Discard of or save the whites. You will only use the yolks.
Use your knife to slice a line down the vanilla bean lengthwise, opening it up so you can see the seeds inside. Turn the knife over, and use the back of it to scrape the inside of the bean out until you have all of your vanilla seeds on the back of your knife. Set aside.
Step 2: Make the Custard
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and ½ cup of sugar. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the heavy whipping cream and salt over medium heat until it begins to bubble. As soon as it begins to bubble, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla seeds.
Once the vanilla seeds are incorporated, pour about ¼ cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks, whisking the egg yolks continually while doing so. Once incorporated, add another ½ cup of cream, stirring continuously. Then add more. Continue doing this until all cream is incorporated into the egg. This is now your custard mixture.
Step 3: Bake the Custard
Fill 6, 6 oz ramekins to the top with the custard mixture.
Put the ramekins in a 9×13 baking dish. At this point, your water on the stove should be boiling.
Add the water into the pan, bringing it about ½” up the side of the ramekins. Make sure not to get any water in the custard.
Bake until the edges are set and the centers are a little jiggly. Mine took about 40 minutes, but you can start checking them around 35 or so. They should be 170 degrees Fahrenheit internally when done.
Step 4: Prepare Topping
Remove from the oven and then remove the ramekins from the water. Allow them to cool on a cooling rack for about an hour, then place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Right before serving, sprinkle a thin layer of granulated sugar on top of each ramekin.
Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar on top until it forms a crust (but does not burn)
Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- After separating the eggs, you can save the whites for plenty of things. This Easy Tiramisu Recipe is a good option. You can also make French Macarons with the egg whites as well.
- It is very important that you add only a little cream to the eggs at the beginning. If you add too much boiling cream to the eggs at once and don’t whisk correctly, the hot cream will cook and scramble the egg yolks in a bowl. To avoid this, you will be following the steps above to slowly warm up the egg yolks by adding a little cream at a time, a technique called tempering.
- When sprinkling the sugar on top of the ramekin, make sure not to leave any custard left uncovered. Torching the custard without a layer of sugar protection will cause the custard to curdle.
- This Easy Crème Brûlée Recipe, in my opinion, is best served with fresh fruit on top. I love serving it with raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries as a topping
- After baking your custard, you can keep it in the fridge for up to three days before topping/torching it. This a great dessert to make ahead of time!
- If your sugar topping is burning easily, turn down the flame on your torch. You may need to wave the flame over the sugar, but if you see it is starting to burn, leave it alone (torch a different part of the ramekin) and come back in a second when the sugar has cooled down slightly.
Recipe FAQs
How to Make Crème Brûlée Without a Blow Torch
If you don’t have a blowtorch to make this Crème Brûlée with, have no fear! You can simply broil the sugar to create the coveted sugar topping.
To do this, put the top rack of the oven very close to the top coils. Place the ramekins in the cold oven, then turn on the broiler. Broil the sugar on top of the ramekins until they start to bubble and brown, about 5 minutes.
What Can I Use Instead of Ramekins?
If you don’t have ramekins, you can use other ceramic or glass bowls. Just make sure that they are oven safe up to 325 degrees, as you don’t want to risk shattering them in the oven.
Did you enjoy this Easy Crème Brûlée Recipe? If so, make sure to check out these other posts that I picked out just for you:
- Blueberry Custard Pie from Finland
- Custard Cake from Croatia
- Broiled Lobster Tail with Vanilla Sauce from Comoros
Easy Crème Brûlée Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 Eggs
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2.5 cups heavy whipping cream
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 vanilla bean
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil while you perform the next steps.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Discard of or save the whites. You will only use the yolks.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and ½ cup of sugar. Set aside.
- Use your knife to slice a line down the vanilla bean lengthwise, opening it up so you can see the seeds inside. Turn the knife over, and use the back of it to scrape the inside of the bean out until you have all of your vanilla seeds on the back of your knife. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, heat the heavy whipping cream and salt over medium heat until it begins to bubble. As soon as it begins to bubble, remove it from the heat and stir in the vanilla seeds.
- Once the vanilla seeds are incorporated, pour about ¼ cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks, whisking the egg yolks continually while doing so. Once incorporated, add another ½ cup of cream, stirring continuously. Then add more. Continue doing this until all cream is incorporated into the egg. This is now your custard mixture.
- Fill 6, 6 oz ramekins to the top with the custard mixture.
- Put the ramekins in a 9×13 baking dish. At this point, your water on the stove should be boiling. Add the water into the pan, bringing it about ½” up the side of the ramekins. Make sure not to get any water in the custard.
- Bake until the edges are set and the centers are a little jiggly. Mine took about 40 minutes, but you can start checking them around 35 or so. They should be 170 degrees Fahrenheit internally when done.
- Remove from the oven and then remove the ramekins from the water. Allow them to cool on a cooling rack for about an hour, then place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Right before serving, sprinkle a thin layer of granulated sugar on top of each ramekin.
- Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar on top until it forms a crust (but does not burn)
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Egg Yolks: You can use these tips to separate the whites from yolks
- Sugar: I use white, granulated sugar
- Vanilla Bean: I would strongly recommend using a vanilla bean if possible, as it creates such a flavor difference! However, this might not always be accessible, in which case, about 2 tsp of vanilla should do the trick
- Heavy Whipping Cream: You can also use normal cream if necessary
- After separating the eggs, you can save the whites for plenty of things. This Easy Tiramisu Recipe is a good option. You can also make French Macarons with the egg whites as well.
- It is very important that you add only a little cream to the eggs at the beginning. If you add too much boiling cream to the eggs at once and don’t whisk correctly, the hot cream will cook and scramble the egg yolks in a bowl. To avoid this, you will be following the steps above to slowly warm up the egg yolks by adding a little cream at a time, a technique called tempering.
- When sprinkling the sugar on top of the ramekin, make sure not to leave any custard left uncovered. Torching the custard without a layer of sugar protection will cause the custard to curdle.
- This Easy Crème Brûlée Recipe, in my opinion, is best served with fresh fruit on top. I love serving it with raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries as a topping
- After baking your custard, you can keep it in the fridge for up to three days before topping/torching it. This a great dessert to make ahead of time!
- If your sugar topping is burning easily, turn down the flame on your torch. You may need to wave the flame over the sugar, but if you see it is starting to burn, leave it alone (torch a different part of the ramekin) and come back in a second when the sugar has cooled down slightly.
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