Creme Brulee

My homemade creme brulee recipe uses just 5 ingredients! It's surprisingly simple to make despite its sophisticated name and appearance.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Resting Time 4

Total Time 5

Servings servings

Calories 377kcal

Author Sam Merritt

Equipment

Ingredients

Creme Brulee

2 cups heavy cream divided (475ml)
⅓ cup granulated sugar (66g)
⅛ teaspoon finely ground sea salt
1 vanilla bean³
6 large egg yolks room temperature
Hot water
Additional granulated sugar for bruleeing

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300F (150C). Prepare 6 ramekins by wrapping the bottom and sides with foil (see video below or images in post for a visual, the foil should be reaching at least 2” up the sides of each ramekin to protect the creme brulee from the water bath). Set prepared ramekins inside a large roasting pan⁴ and set aside.
Combine 1 ½ cups (355ml) heavy cream cream, sugar, and sea salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Split vanilla bean, scrape out seeds and add to saucepan and then toss in the vanilla bean as well. Stir mixture well and bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Once mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine your egg yolks in a separate medium-sized bowl and whisk well.
Once cream has cooled, retrieve vanilla bean and discard. Pour remaining ½ cup (115ml) heavy cream into warm cream mixture and stir well.
Take approximately ⅓ cup of the cream mixture and slowly drizzle it into egg mixture while whisking yolks constantly (this gradual addition while whisking will keep the hot cream mixture from cooking your eggs)
While whisking, drizzle remaining cream mixture into egg yolks until mixture is combined.
Pour mixture through a strainer into a separate bowl.
Divide mixture evenly into prepared ramekins, filling each ⅔-¾ full (do not overfill, if you have any extra mixture discard).
Carefully, making sure to not get get any water into the ramekins, pour hot water into the roasting pan, using enough so that the water height is about ⅔-¾ as high as the top of the ramekins (not the foil!).
Carefully transfer to oven and bake on 300F (150C) for 25-35 minutes or until center is set on top but still jiggling, I recommend using an instant read thermometer to check that the temperature is at 175F (80C).
Gripping the foil, carefully lift each creme brulee out of the roasting pan and set on a cooling rack to cool for at least 20 minutes. Discard foil, transfer to refrigerator and allow to chill for at least 4-6 hours.
When ready to serve, generously sprinkle the top of each creme brulee with about 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. Holding a culinary torch several inches from the sugar, cook the sugar (moving the torch constantly) until sugar is melted and golden browned (about 90 seconds).
Serve and enjoy!
Hint: Creme Brulee is great topped with fresh fruit!

Video

Notes

¹Ramekins

(these are the ones I use, affiliate link). You can use ramekins of a different size, measure a little over ⅓ cup of liquid per ramekin and note that the baking time will likely vary (be longer) for smaller ramekins, so keep an eye on them!

²Culinary Torch

(this is the one I use, the one in the video is no longer available and this is the one I use now, affiliate link)

³Vanilla

If you don't have a vanilla bean, you can substitute vanilla extract. You would use 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract and stir this into your cream mixture in step 5.

⁴Roasting pan

If you don't have a roasting pan, you can use two 9x13 pans instead.

Here are a few ideas for your leftover egg whites!

Nutrition