Best classic crème brûlée recipe, creamy rich with its crackle caramelized sugar on top. This is how to make authentic vanilla bean crème brûlée the easy way.
Try my fancy alcohol free Tiramisu, it is fabulous.
This creme brulee recipe is easy and hard to mess with and yields the most beautiful homemade 5 star restaurant quality dessert. Creme brulee is silky cool and smooth dessert topped with a thin layer of hot brittle sugar. A sweet rich vanilla infused custard with a faint bitter and crunchy top. Lots of textures and temperatures here guys... lovely.
What is crème brûlée made of?
The beauty in making creme brulee is its simplicity. By taking simple everyday ingredients and turning them into this creamy dessert. That magical combination of egg yolks and whipping cream that is so decadently rich. A gourmet style dessert that is staple in every restaurant.
Is it hard to make a creme brulee?
I thought so too. You'll never imagine that I bought my torch nearly 3 years ago, and kept pushing myself ever since. I got the impression that it is hard and it requires certain chef's skills to make which I do not have of course.
Just whisk eggs nicely, heat the cream lightly, bake the vanilla custard gently, let it rest in the fridge and take its time then fire up your torch. You'll end up with an elegant rich French dessert.
A fancy schmancy dessert that people dress up for, but guess what? you can have it right in your living rooms probably with your pajamas on :).
How do I make a creme brulee?
- We'll start with a lot of whipping cream, unfortunately you can't use any skim milk we need rich cream to start with.
- We'll heat up the cream on medium to bring its temperature up slowly, in the mean time we will infuse it with vanilla bean, both the seeds and the bean itself, to get that beautiful vanilla flavor.
- Pay extra attention that the cream does not boil or it will bubble and overflow in a jiffy and this is not fun at all.
- Cover the cream and let it cool down for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, separate your eggs in a bowl. Adding an extra whole egg makes the creme brulee silkier with a lighter consistency.
- Add sugar to the eggs and give it a nice whisk to blend. I've discovered it is much better to use a hand whisk than using the egg beaters that you'll see in the video.
- Now gradually, add the cooled cream to the egg mixture and whisk.
- Strain the cream through a fine mesh strainer to get ready of any lumps that indicate cooked eggs.
- Pour into ramekins then place ramekins in a rimmed baking sheet.
- Pour boiling water in the baking sheet halfway up the ramekins.
- Note: Using an egg beaters might cause a thin layer of foam on top of the creme brulee mixture, this foam did not bother me at all and it baked beautifully and nicely. Some experts say that these foam or any bubbles on the surface does not allow your sugar to caramelize evenly. Obviously, with a small spoon you can skim this layer off.
- Bake in the oven 20-25 minutes until the edges set while it is jiggling in the center.
- Keep in the sheet for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool down completely and come to room temperature.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge preferably overnight.
- Before serving by 30 minutes, take the ramekins out of the fridge.
- Now for the fun part, sprinkle white sugar on top and twirl the ramekin to get an even layer of sugar. Torch the sugar to caramelize.
Voila, you got yourself an A+ dessert that your guests will rave about. Do it right and I promise you'll not end up with a sweet scrambled eggs version :).
I hope you'll like this recipe and please if you make this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #amiraspantry — I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter!
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Creme Brûlée
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream.
- 1 vanilla bean.*
- ½ cup sugar.
- 6 large egg yolks.
- 1 whole egg.
- More sugar for caramelizing the top.
Instructions
- Pour the whipping cream in a saucepan or a pot.
- Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape the seeds with the back of a pairing knife. Add the seeds and the bean itself to the pot.
- Stir well to combine and heat on medium until the edges start to bubble.
- Remove pan from heat, cover and let it set for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- In a bowl, add the yolks, the whole egg and the sugar. Whisk to blend.
- Pull out the vanilla bean out before adding.
- Gradually add the cream to the egg mixture and whisk. Strain to remove any lumps.
- Ladle or pour this mixture into the 8 (4oz) ramekins.
- Place in a rimmed pan and pour boiling water in the pan carefully halfway through the ramekins.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until they are set around the edges, but still have a little jiggle to them when gently moved. They will continue cooking while they cool down.
- Let them cool down for 10 more minutes in the water then carefully remove the ramekins and place them on a rack to cool completely to room temperature.
- Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or over night.
- 30 minutes before serving, get the ramekins out of the fridge.
- Sprinkle the top of each ramekin with about a teaspoon of sugar, shake it around to evenly spread the sugar.
- Torch the sugar until nicely and evenly caramalized.
- Serve immediately.
Karen (Back Road Journal)
I'm never too full to enjoy a crème brûlée after dinner, it is a favorite.
John / Kitchen Riffs
I love having an excuse to use my kitchen torch (actually a torch that I bought from a box box hardware store, but it works just as well). I haaven't had this dessert in ages, and it's been even longer since I've made it -- at least a decade. Gotta have this again, and soon. Thanks!
Evelyne
One of my fave restaurants desserts in a French place. And I can attest that itis easy to make. I don't have a burner so one can also put the oven grill as high as possible and broil the sugar on top.
Amira
Thanks Eve, this is a great tip for those who do not have torch... I heard also heating up a spoon ans work it through the surface caramelizes sugar very well.