I love creme brulee, but I didn’t think I could make it at home because it was so delicate…and fancy. But when I saw this recipe on therecipecritic.com, I thought maybe I could do it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? I’m so glad I did! It was absolutely delicious and totally doable. I’ve added a couple notes to the instructions to make it foolproof for you.
The next time you’d like to have a yummy, impressive dessert, try this!
Easy Creme Brulee (and no, it’s not an oxymoron!)
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (1/4 if you prefer less sweet)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar for topping
What tools you’ll need:
- Glass measuring cup, large
- small pot
- rectangular glass casserole dish
- 4 ramekins
- small torch or broiler
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- In a small pot, heat cream over medium heat until hot but not boiling — small bubbles will appear just along the edge of the pot.
- Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and vanilla — I like to do this in a large glass measuring cup for easy pouring! Note: if you don’t have a glass measuring cup, a bowl will do. Just be careful when pouring into ramekins.
- When the cream is hot, add it to the egg yolk mixture a little at a time, whisking well after each addition. Why? Because if you add it all at once, you’ll have scrambled eggs! I added a very little bit and stirred like crazy before adding more.
- Pour into 4, 7-8 ounce ramekins, (wider and shallower is better if you have them). I purchased my ramekins at Target, but you can find them lots of places, even grocery stores.
- Place filled ramekins in a rectangular baking dish. You’re going to fill the baking dish with hot water until it comes 3/4 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to get any water in the custard! This is called a hot water bath.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-45 minutes. This will depend on how deep the custard is! (Smaller ramekins, deeper custard = longer bake time) The top will appear set but underneath it will still jiggle.
- Very carefully take the ramekins out of the hot water so they don’t continue to cook.
- Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours until chilled. (You can wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days).
- Sprinkle each custard with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and torch or broil just until caramelized. My husband used a larger torch that he uses for meat, and it was torch overdo, in my opinion. But either way, whether using a culinary torch or broiling in the oven, it doesn’t take long before the top hardens.