This is the best crème brûlée recipe featuring a shatteringly crisp sugar top and ultra-smooth vanilla custard, made with just five simple ingredients and foolproof steps.
Fancy Yet Easy Crème Brûlée
- Flavor: Crème brulée means ‘burnt cream’ in French. But don’t worry, only the sugar topping is crisp and burnt. This inside is rich and smooth, thanks to heavy cream and egg yolks, with a subtle vanilla flavor.
- Skill Level: Surprisingly simple and easy to make with a luxurious result, this recipe is the perfect way to impress guests or treat yourself.
- Tools: Ramekins, a baking dish, fine-mesh sieve, whisk, and a kitchen torch are all you need. If you don’t have a torch, just use your oven broiler.
- Serving Suggestions: While a chilled custard with a freshly torched sugar top is elegant all on its own, raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries with a mint leaf or a crisp cookie tucked in, add contrasting color to the rich custard.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Cream: For the best flavor, go for full-fat heavy whipping cream.
- Eggs: Egg yolks are what make the custard thick and creamy. Use large, room-temperature yolks and freeze the whites for meringue.
- Sugar: Use basic white sugar, or for faster blending, use caster sugar (AKA superfine).
- Vanilla: Vanilla is the key flavor maker in crème brulée. Use pure vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, or scrape vanilla beans from a fresh vanilla pod if you have them.
Variations
- Creme brulee is as easy to customize as it is to make. Add a small strip of orange peel to the warm cream, steep 10 minutes, then remove for a citrus twist.
- Add one cup of pumpkin puree (not pie filling) with some pumpkin pie spice for an elegant seasonal treat.
- Make a chocolate brulée by adding a tablespoon of cocoa to the recipe, or make an espresso brulée by adding a pinch of espresso powder into the warm cream.
How to Make the Best Crème Brûlée
- Prepare the custard on the stovetop and strain it into ramekins. (Full recipe below.)
- Bake in a hot water bath until just set, then chill in the fridge.
- Sprinkle with sugar and caramelize with a torch or under the broiler.
- Let the sugar harden before serving.
Pro Tips for the Perfect Crème Brûlée
- Perfect creme brulee starts with proper prep. Have hot water ready to pour into a baking dish in Step 8 which allows for even cooking and flat tops.
- Slowly combine the cream and egg mixture to keep the eggs from cooking. This is a crucial step and is worth taking the time for.
- No kitchen torch? No problem! Simply place the sugared brulées on a baking sheet and broil them until the tops are caramelized. Watch them carefully so they don’t burn.
- Be careful not to overbake crème brulée. The centers should be slightly jiggly. Overbaking them will make them firmer, like a flan and less like a custard.
- When torching the tops, do two light sugar layers rather than one. This will create a clean crackly top.
- Make crème brulées up to 3 days ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator. Torch the sugar topping just before serving.
Storage and Leftovers: Keep it Creamy
Refrigerate custards tightly covered for up to 4 days. For the best texture, store without the sugar topping and torch just before serving.
If they are already brûléed the top will soften in the fridge. Just sprinkle more sugar and re-torch it to restore the crackle.
To freeze skip the sugar topping and keep up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge but the texture may be slightly less creamy.
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Best Creme Brulee Recipe
The best crème brûlée recipe with a silky custard base and a thin crackly caramel top, made with five simple ingredients.
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar divided
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Into a medium saucepan on medium heat, add heavy cream and heat until it just begins to simmer. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, ¼ cup granulated sugar, and salt until the mixture becomes pale and thick, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Slowly pour the warm cream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.
- Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the custard mixture into a large measuring cup or bowl (to remove any egg that may have cooked).
- Into 4 ramekins, divide the custard mixture evenly.
- Place the ramekins in a baking dish.
- Pour hot water into the baking dish until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Carefully transfer the baking dish to the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the custards are just set but still slightly jiggly in the center.
- Remove the ramekins from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until well chilled.
- Just before serving, using the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar, sprinkle a thin, even layer of sugar over the top of each custard (you may not use all of the sugar).
- Use a kitchen torch to melt and caramelize the sugar until it forms a crispy, golden-brown crust. Alternatively, you can place the ramekins under a broiler set on high for 1 to 2 minutes, watching carefully to prevent burning.
- Cool for a few minutes so the caramelized sugar can harden a bit before serving.
Notes
- Leftover creme brulee will keep in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for 4 days. For the best texture, store without the sugar topping and torch just before serving.
- If Already Brûléed: The top will soften in the fridge, so before serving, sprinkle more sugar and re-torch it to restore the crackle.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 557 | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 318mg | Sodium: 113mg | Potassium: 133mg | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 1994IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information does not include optional ingredients or garnish and is an estimate. It may change based on actual ingredients and cooking methods used.
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