Crème Brûlée Recipe

Surprised? Yes, this Crème Brûlée Recipe deserves to be here: it’s easy, practical and very, very delicious! Plus, you’ll feel like a great French chef making it, trust me… I think Crème Brûlée is a fun dessert to eat. There is something about breaking that hard caramelized shell and releasing the rich cream inside that is hard to describe.

The first record of crème brûlée dates back to a 1691 cookbook. In 1731 the name was changed to “creme anglaise”, or English cream. I think the original name, which means “burnt cream”, is more fitting and charming. This crème brûlée recipe is easy.

Crème Brûlée Recipe

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Marjorie Marina

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks (chilled)
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Enough granulated sugar to sprinkle on top to make the hard shell

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees;
2. Butter 4 ramekins or ovenproof custard cups;
3. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks until they become a very pale yellow;
4. Start adding the sugar slowly. Continue beating until it thickens,
5. Mix the cream into the egg mixture;
6. Divide the mixture equally into the ramekins, and place them in an oven proof baking dish;
7. Pour cold water in the baking dish, until it's half way up the side of the ramekins;
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it starts to set on the edges, but it's still soft in the center;
9. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cooled, refrigerate for at least 2 hours;
10. Before serving, sprinkle about 2 or 3 tsp of sugar over the top of each ramekin. Caramelize with a small handheld torch or under a hot broiler until sugar is golden brown.

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• If you find vanilla pod, cut one in half lengthwise, scrape the seeds with a knife, and add the seeds to the egg mixture. It will give the taste of your crème brûlée an extra boost.
• The empty pod may be stored inside a sugar container to flavor the sugar (vanilla sugar).
• If you need to serve more people, you may increase the recipe. Just add 1 egg yolk, 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/4 heavy cream per extra person.
• If you don’t want to serve in ramekins, you may prepare in one large dish (1 1/2 quart casserole or baking dish). Just make sure it’s oven proof, for it still has to be baked in the water bath (bain marie). Increase 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.
• Heavy cream may be substituted for whipping (NOT whipped) cream or double cream.