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This Crème Brûlée has the perfect creamy, silky custard underneath a crunchy caramelized sugar topping. Plus it is perfectly portioned for two!
Ahh Crème Brûlée. Crunchy, caramelized sugar top with a creamy vanilla center. Where have you been all my life?
I’ll tell you where. Relegated to second-class desserts by my chocoholic tendencies. Crème Brûlée never stood a chance in a restaurant. But now… But now I can’t get enough! And I was genuinely shocked by how easy it was to make from scratch.
I even got some of the water bath in my custard dish.
Big no-no. HUGE no-no. And it came out totally fine!!! Observe:
Because it can chill for up to 4 days (without the brûlée, of course), it is the perfect make-ahead dessert. You can whip them out of the fridge with a flourish, brûlée that yummy sugar and dazzle your dinner guests with your culinary finesse.
Et Voilà! Dessert!
And the perfect portions for 2? Sounds like a dazzler of a Valentine’s Day, Date Night, or run of the mill Tuesday dessert to me!!! Nothing spices up Tuesday like Crème Brûlée.
I did a mini Test Kitchen with my Crème Brûlée: On one I used turbinado sugar as the recipe calls for (rear ramekin) and on the second I used superfine granulated sugar (front ramekin). The superfine sugar melted faster and created a more even crust. The turbinado started to burn way before all the sugar had melted. I felt out of control, and, like Cher in Clueless, I really hate that.
The custard was dreamy with a noticeable vanilla flavor and the crust was beautifully crisp. Just like my crème caramel recipe, this one is todiefor!
Crème Brûlée – Perfect Portions For Two!
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream cold
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- pinch kosher salt
- 3 egg yolks save the whites for Angel Food Cake!
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons superfine sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300° with the rack in the lower third of the oven. Set a pot of water on the stove to boil. Place two 4-5 oz ramekins in a roasting pan or baking sheet if you are using shallow dishes.
- In a small pot combine ½ cup of the heavy cream, sugar and salt. Gently bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently with a whisk.
- Remove cream from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Add the remaining heavy cream to further cool the mixture.
- In a medium, heatproof bowl whisk the yolks until smooth and well combined. Add the vanilla extract and ¼ cup of the cream mixture while continuously whisking to combine.
- Continue to add the heavy cream mixture by the ¼ cup until the custard is smooth and the color is a uniform pale yellow.
- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a 2-cup measuring cup. Discard any chunks that are caught by the strainer.
- Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it is half way up the sides of the ramekins. Then evenly divide the custard between the two ramekins.
- Place the roasting dish with the custards into the preheated oven taking care not to splash any water into the ramekins. (But know, if you do, don’t fret about it. They’ll be fine)
- Bake for 20-40 minutes depending on the depth of your dishes. Mine baked about 28 minutes. I took them out when the sides were set but the middle was still wobbly.
- When the custards were done, I siphoned most of the water out of the roasting dish with a turkey baster prior to removing the pan from the oven. I then moved the dishes to a wire cooling rack with a large, sturdy spatula to cool.
- Cool 1 hour or until custard is room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 4 days.
- !To Finish the Crème Brûlée:
- Remove custards from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the plastic wrap and blot any condensation on the surface of the custard.
- Sprinkle 2 teaspoons superfine sugar relatively evenly over the surface of the custard. [Note: if you use a deeper dish, then you will need to reduce the amount of sugar for the brûlée.]
- With a kitchen blow-torch, move the flame across the surface of the custard in small circles – never staying in one spot for too long – until the sugar has all melted and it has reached the level of caramelized that you prefer. The sugar will harden as it cools.
- Serve immediately. Do not place the brûléed custard back in the refrigerator. This would be a travesty!
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this professional chef tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed stirred custard recipes, or try out this pastry cream recipe next!
I’m a little late to this party, but I just had to stop by to tell you I’ve made this recipe 3 times now, once vanilla, once blueberry (I was feeling particularly adventurous) and once almond with a candied almond crumble in the brulee – it’s so easy and adaptable! Love it. Thanks so much for sharing the creme brulee wealth! 🙂
Oooo! Blueberry sounds fantastic! Did you use a compote or cook the blueberries at at before baking or did you drop in fresh? Happy baking!
Creme brulee is one of my all-time favorite desserts! If the restaurant has it on the menu – I order it! I made it once, without a blow torch, believe it or not. I just broiled it in the oven under the broiler – worked out great! 🙂
I’m sure yours turned out beautifully! I was too scared to attempt it without a blow torch / I love an excuse for new kitchen toys!!
You should try this recipe! I couldn’t believe how easy it was.
I am thrilled to see a 2 portion creme brulee recipe! We love this dessert, but unless the whole family is home, we’re eating it for days. Going to have to treat the hubby 🙂
That was the main reason I tried it because no one needs custard every night for a week! I say need…not want. 😉 You absolutely should make it. Let me know how it goes!
Lol why not combine your love of chocolate and make chocolate crème brulee? I used to make it at my other job at the country club, and that used to be a big hit. It was actually S’mores Crème Brulee with graham cracker crumbs and melted marshmallow on top. My favorite crème brulee is probably that, espresso, and of course, the regular vanilla one.
Say what!?! Baby steps, girl. Baby steps! But you could totally make any of those for me anytime you felt so inclined!
ps- I am also partial to caramel creme brûlée.
mmmmm ever so fancy and delicious-creme brulee is a second class dessert citizen no more!
Move over chocolate!!! Or maybe just squeeze over a smidge… 😉