Valentina's Corner
This classic Vanilla Creme Brulee Recipe is everything you can ask for in a dessert! Creamy, rich, and silky custard dessert with a caramelized crispy sugar layer. With our tips and detailed instructions, you don’t have to feel intimidated to try making this dessert.
If you love this elegant dessert, you’ll have to try our easy tiramisu, donut holes, and basic crepes recipe – all so fancy, but they can easily be made at home.
Expert Tip:
This recipe uses just the yolk of the eggs. If you want to make good use of the remaining egg whites, be sure to make our classic french macarons for another luxurious dessert.
Crème Brûlée RECIPE-
You are going to love this custard dessert recipe! A combination of creamy custard and a crunchy caramelized sugar topping, the ultimate dessert.
What is Creme Brulee? Creme Brulee is also known as burned cream. The dessert has a rich custard base made with egg yolks, sugar, heavy whipping cream, and sugar, then topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar.
INGREDIENTS-
All you need for this creme brulee recipe is 5 staple kitchen ingredients!
- Heavy Whipping Cream– You want to use a high-quality heavy whipping cream for this dessert.
- Egg Yolks– The egg yolks give you that smooth and silky custard.
- Sugar– You’ll need granulated sugar for the base and the top.
- Vanilla– We use vanilla extract for flavor, but you can also use vanilla bean.
To Serve-
Add your favorite berries to serve. Raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, and even blueberries all work great here. Add fresh mint for aesthetics.
HOW TO MAKE CREME BRULEE-
You are not going to believe how easy it is to make this creme brulee recipe, even though it seems so complex.
Make Base Custard-
- Preheat oven– Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- Beat egg + sugar– Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl.
- Heat cream– Add the heavy whipping cream into the saucepan. Cook over medium/low heat to bring the milk to a low simmer. Remove from the heat and add in the vanilla extract.
- Add to eggs– Slowly pour the hot, heavy whipping cream into the egg mixture while whisking as you pour. You have to temper the eggs, or they will scramble. You want to continue until all the heavy cream is combined with the egg yolks.
- Fill Ramekins– Pour the cream mixture into ramekins, distribute among all the ramekins, and then add to a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan.
Bake and Serve-
- Water Bath– Fill the baking pan with boiling hot water around the sides of the ramekins until half of the ramekins are covered in the water.
- Bake– Slowly add the baking dish into the oven, avoiding spilling the water into the custard. After that, you want to bake at 325°F for about 30-35 minutes or until the custard is set.
- Cool– Once the creme brulee is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely for about 2 hours.
- Caramelize– Finally, sprinkle the creme brulee with a sugar crust and torch until caramelized. After that, top with fresh berries and mint and serve.
The secret to creamiest custard! You want to ensure you don’t over or underbake the creme brulee. The creme brulee should be set but still, slightly jiggle in the center to get that perfect custard-like cream.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe will make 6 (4 oz) ramekins.
You want to make sure you use a kitchen torch for optimal caramelization.
Yes! The water bath is essential as it helps achieve this dessert’s silky and creamy texture and ensures it will bake evenly.
You can make this creme brulee up to 3 days in advance. Just top with sugar and caramelize when ready to serve.
You can use the broil setting on your oven.
Keep leftover creme brulee in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes, this dessert is entirely gluten-free!
OTHER DELICIOUS DESSERTS-
- Greek Baklava
- Coffee Macarons
- Chocolate Chip Scones
- Butter Cookies
- Honey Cake
- Classic Mini Cheesecakes
- Fruit Salad
Crème Brulee Recipe
Ingredients
Base Custard-
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Creme Brulee Topping-
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- raspberries for decor
- mint for decor
Instructions
Make Base Custard-
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Prepare your ramekins in a 9×13 baking pan.
- Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl.
- Add the heavy whipping cream into the saucepan. Cook over medium/low heat to bring the milk to a low simmer. Remove from the heat and add in the vanilla extract.
- Slowly pour the hot heavy whipping cream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking as you pour, you have to temper the eggs or they will scramble. Continue until all the heavy cream is combined with the egg yolks.
- Pour the custard filling into ramekins, distribute among all the ramekins and add to a rimmed baking pan or roasting pan.
Bake and Serve-
- Fill the baking pan with boiling water around the ramekins, until half of the ramekins are covered in the water.
- Slowly add the baking pan into the oven, avoiding spilling the water into the custard. Bake at 325°F for about 30-35 minutes, or until the custard is set.
- Once the creme brulee is done remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, about 2 hours.
- Top the cooled creme brulee sugar and torch until caramelized. Top with fresh berries and mint and serve.