Creme Brulee

Craving a fancy dessert that's easier than it looks? Creme Brulee is for you! It's a simple yet impressive dessert perfect for a date night or a special occasion.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 35

Total Time: 55

Servings: servings

Calories: 685kcal

Author: Michelle

Ingredients

4 cups heavy cream not ultrapasteurized
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 vanilla beans

Instructions

Cut the vanilla beans in half, and use the back of a knife to carefully scrape out the seeds. If you are not using the seeds, skip the vanilla for now. Add the cream and the seeds to a heavy pot and turn the heat to medium, also add the beans.
2 vanilla beans, 4 cups heavy cream
Scald the cream. Steam and have a few tiny bubbles but do not let it boil. It’s done when it barely starts to have a skin form. Remove the vanilla beans and scrape them one last time to get any more seeds out, adding those to the cream, too.
While the cream scalds, prepare your eggs. Separate the whites from the yolks.
Place the yolks into a large bowl and whisk them until they’re incorporated. Add the sugar to the yolks and whisk until the yolks are lightened in color.
8 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar
When the cream is scalded, add just a couple tablespoons of cream to the eggs while whisking the eggs to temper them. Add a little more cream and keep whisking. Once the eggs are brought up to temperature, add the remaining cream, still whisking so that you don’t cook the eggs. If you didn’t use vanilla beans, now is the time to add your vanilla bean paste.
Place six ramekins into a baking dish. Ladle the creme brulee mixture into the ramekins. Once they’re evenly distributed, place the baking dish in your oven. Then, use a tea kettle to carefully add boiling water to the baking dish so that it covers at least two-thirds of the ramekins, being sure not to spill any of the water into the ramekins.
Bake the creme brulee for 25-35 minutes, until the centers are just set. Once baked, let the ramekins cool in the fridge. When you are ready to serve them, sprinkle a good layer of sugar atop the creme brulee and use a torch to melt the sugar, starting in the center and then carefully circling out to the edges.

Equipment

Chef's Knife

8 Ounce Ramekins

Non Skid Mixing Bowl

Notes

If you are not using vanilla beans, use 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste.
Save the unused egg whites for meringues, angel food cake, or a whole bunch of egg white omelettes.
Don’t make your crust ahead, but the rest can be done a day or two in advance and kept in the fridge.
For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.

Nutrition

This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.