Crème brûlée isn’t as difficult as you might think—and it’s a great dessert to make ahead for the holidays. When I burn the sugar, I like to leave it a little uneven, so you get that nice contrast between the caramelized sugar and the cream underneath.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Active: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 quart heavy cream
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 1/4 cups egg yolks, from about 15 large eggs
- Raspberries, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and prepare an ice bath. Make the custard: Bring cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Whisk in ½ cup sugar. Slice a vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the beans into the cream/sugar mixture. (Chef’s tip: Place the scraped vanilla bean in a jar of sugar for a week or so to give the sugar a great vanilla flavor.) Pour the custard into the ice bath, moving a spatula through it in a figure-eight motion to cool. Set aside.
- Prepare the custard for baking: Whisk the yolks in a medium bowl. Place the shallow baking dishes on a rimmed baking sheet. Ladle some of the cooled cream mixture into the yolks and whisk to combine. Add the remaining cream to the yolk mixture, continuing to whisk until combined.
- Pour custard through a strainer, then into a measuring cup for easy pouring. Pour ½ cup of custard into each baking dish, then settle the baking sheet in the oven. Pour another ¼ cup of custard into each dish. Using a measuring cup, pour warm water into the rimmed baking sheet, about 1 inch deep around the custard. Cook 45 minutes, checking after 30 since oven cooking times can vary.
- Finish the crème brûlée: Evenly scatter sugar over each creme brûlée (about one teaspoon). Lightly go over the sugar with a kitchen torch until it’s caramelized. Repeat this process two more times for each dish. Garnish with raspberries and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 843 |
| Total Fat | 72 g |
| Saturated Fat | 41 g |
| Carbohydrates | 40 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 38 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Cholesterol | 767 mg |
| Sodium | 85 mg |
Reviews
While the video was worth watching, the video and recipe lacks INFORMATION. This seems to be a lot of custard for only four very shallow ramekins. Chef should advise how many ounces does each ramekin hold! ?? The ramekins look very shallow, yet he mentions an inch of water – those ramekins don’t even look an inch deep! How hot should the heated water be when pouring it into the pan, boiling, or just hot? Video did not show an example of the consistency of the custard when done, typically it should have a jelly like consistency a little loose in the center – would have been nice to see in the video. I have made another recipe, so I know a bit more than his video shared. Also did he let them cool, and if so were they cooling in the water bath or removed and set on a wire rack? Overall video and recipe LACKS information. There are better recipes and videos available for anyone making this for the first time, learning the technique along with significant tips would have been nice to see here. Anyone looking to make this for the first time, this is NOT the recipe to start with!
My crime brûlée turned out perfect! It was silky smooth and lovely. The only problem is that I can’t figure out why the chef made such a large amount of custard for only 4 small dishes. I had enough leftover to fill a 13×9 pan!!!! Next time I will halve the recipe.
Terrible all around.
sounds quite simple for an exquisite dessert!