Classic French Crème Brûlée
Classic French Crème Brûlée
This classic french crème brûlée recipe is one of my favourite individual desserts! They’re so simple to make, but a few little tips and tricks will help you to get a nice professional finish to it.
First, I always stir the hot cream over the eggs with a spatula, not a whisk – try and avoid adding too much air into the mixture as the bubbles can rise as it bakes and pop on the surface. Secondly – once it has chilled overnight (or about 6 hours), use a paper towel to gently absorb any condensation. This will stop any sugar going soggy before you caramelise it. And finally, I prefer to use icing sugar for the torched sugar top rather than demerara or caster sugar, I think it gives you a much thinner crackled top, rather than a huge hunk of burnt, thick caramel!
Make sure you use vanilla beans or a vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract, it creates a much more authentic vanilla custard.
Follow my video and step-by-step recipe to make this classic french dessert.
Looking for more individual desserts? Check out my passion fruit soufflé and panna cotta recipes!
Ingredients
Method
Add the cream, milk and the fresh vanilla to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Then turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar for 30 seconds.
Gently re-heat the cream ever so slightly, then pour it slowly over the eggs, stirring with a spatula.
Pour the mixture into ramekins, and pop any air bubbles with a blow torch.
Place the ramekins in a dish and fill it halfway with boiling water.
Bake at 110C until the mixture has JUST set in the centre. The baking time really depends on your oven and the side of the ramekin, it can take anywhere from 1-2 hours but keep an eye on it! You want a very small wobble in the centre.
Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
Cover tightly with cling film and refrigerate overnight (or 6 hours).
The next day, mop up any moisture on top with a paper towel.
Dust one layer of icing sugar over the top and gently torch it until it disappears, then dust a second layer and torch until golden.
Ingredients
Directions
Add the cream, milk and the fresh vanilla to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Then turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar for 30 seconds.
Gently re-heat the cream ever so slightly, then pour it slowly over the eggs, stirring with a spatula.
Pour the mixture into ramekins, and pop any air bubbles with a blow torch.
Place the ramekins in a dish and fill it halfway with boiling water.
Bake at 110C until the mixture has JUST set in the centre. The baking time really depends on your oven and the side of the ramekin, it can take anywhere from 1-2 hours but keep an eye on it! You want a very small wobble in the centre.
Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
Cover tightly with cling film and refrigerate overnight (or 6 hours).
The next day, mop up any moisture on top with a paper towel.
Dust one layer of icing sugar over the top and gently torch it until it disappears, then dust a second layer and torch until golden.
Your book says to cook for 30-40 mins at 170c and they ended up being quite brown on top! I don’t know if the recipe in the book should have been much lower?
I found myself if they were too close to the oven element they would brown. It is best to have them on the lower 1/3 of the oven. You can also try dropping the temp to 160C too!
Do you have American measurements?
Only grams on here – so much more accurate 🙂
Wow icing sugar . I’ll try using that. Maybe the burning will be even . Thank you Matt
it creates a veryyyy thin caramel on top! I prefer that to the really thick crunchy one!
Most recipes don’t ask for milk in addition to the heavy cream. What difference is the milk bringing to your recipe? Thanks
Ah this is just the recipe I have always used so I haven’t tested a full cream version!