The Simplest Crème Brûlée
Simple. Silky. Decadent. The Simplest Crème Brûlée is rich, creamy, and can be easily mastered with a few simple tips!
Ingredients
- 3 Egg Yolks large
- 2 cups (475ml) Heavy Cream
- 1/2 cup (100g) Granulated Sugar + additional for brûlée
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste or vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F (300F convection bake). Place 4 ramekins into a ~2" deep baking/casserole dish. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until creamy.
- Meanwhile, heat heavy cream until boiling (Note: this can be done in a saucepan or in 30s increments in the microwave). Once boiling, stir in vanilla and salt.
- Slowly add cream mixture to egg yolk/sugar mixture (I recommend adding no more than 1/2 cup of cream mixture at a time and whisking vigorously so as to not curdle the eggs).
- Evenly distribute cream mixture into 4 ramekins (Note: You can also distribute mixture into 5 ramekins if this works best for your ramekin shape).
- Fill your baking/casserole dish with boiling hot water so that it covers the base and ~1" of the height of each ramekin.
- Bake at 325F for ~35-45min or until the sides of each crème brûlée are set and the centre is slightly wobbly (Note: after 35 minutes, I recommend checking crème brûlée every 5 minutes until done). Remove ramekins from the oven and allow to cool completely at room temperature.
- Once crème brûlée's have cooled to room temperature, cover in plastic wrap and chill for 1h to overnight.
- Brûlée by Kitchen Torch: Unwrap each crème brûlée. Add 1-2 tsp of granulated sugar to the top of each, gently rotating to evenly distribute sugar. Using a kitchen torch, heat the tops of each until golden brown/caramelized.
- Brûlée by Oven: Unwrap each crème brûlée. Add 1-2 tsp of granulated sugar to the top of each, gently rotating to evenly distribute sugar. Set Oven to broil. Place ramekins in the oven for 30s at a time until caramelized (Note: Do not step away from your oven!! Your crème brûlée can quickly burn if left unattended).
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Sofia’s Tips:
- Combining the hot milk with the egg yolk mixture too quickly will cause the eggs to scramble! Go slow!
- In the event that you have some curdled egg pieces in your custard, don’t panic! To get a smoother custard use a strainer to remove the coarse particles.
- Creating a water bath in a large baking/casserole dish develops a moist and humid environment for the crème brûlée to set into that perfectly smooth, creamy texture
- Want to get rid of the air bubbles? While I find that the air bubbles that can form on the surface of your crème brûlée are typically hidden after topping with caramelized sugar, if you want to ensure a perfectly smooth skin, you can remove the air bubbles with a spoon prior to baking.
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