Four Ingredient Crème Brûlé
Four Ingredient Crème Brûlé
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Only four ingredients are all it takes to create this restaurant-worthy crème Brulé.
Eggs, cream, sugar, and vanilla come together to make this classic, elegant dessert with a rich, silky custard and a crisp caramelized sugar top.
What is crème Brulé?
Crème Brulé is a traditional French dessert featuring a smooth vanilla custard base topped with a layer of caramelized sugar that’s torched until crisp and golden.
You can brown the sugar in your oven broiler or use a kitchen torch, another way is to heat up a medal spoon and touch the sugared tops a few times, with the back of the spoon.
What ever method you use to caramelize the sugar topping, it is best that the custards are chilled before hitting the tops with heat. To add another depth of flavor,
I caramelized some sliced strawberries by cooking them in 2 tablespoons of sugar for 10 minutes, and topped the Creme Brule with them. you don’t have to.
This dessert is easy, quick and delicious, it’s a special dessert but it’s so easy you’ll want to make it often.
Using the right size ramekins is important to ensure even cooking, I use 6 oz. ramekins and be sure the baking pan is deep enough for the water to bath the ramekins 3/4 of the way up.
I don’t know about you, but for me I like simple, easy desserts that taste delicious, come together in less than a hour, but has your friends thinking it took hours, this is one of those desserts. It’s simple and so delicious you’ll want to make it often.
If you like easy desserts that are easy, use few ingredients and delicious try my classic Italian zabaglione recipe
If you make this 4 ingredient Creme Brule dessert, please leave me a comment and tag me on Instagram.
Four Ingredient Crème Brûlé
Ingredients
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract)
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided (½ cup for the custard, ½ cup for the caramelized topping)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Place four 6-ounce ramekins in a deep baking dish.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the heavy cream and the seeds and pod from the vanilla bean. Heat until the cream is hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat. If using vanilla extract, stir it in after removing the cream from the heat.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and ½ cup of the sugar until smooth and slightly pale.
- Slowly pour the hot cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup or bowl to ensure a silky-smooth custard.
- Divide the custard evenly among the ramekins.
- Pour hot water into the baking dish until it reaches about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers still have a slight jiggle.
- Carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath and let them cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Just before serving, sprinkle each custard evenly with the remaining sugar (about 2 tablespoons per ramekin). Using a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar until it turns deep golden brown and crisp. Alternatively, place the ramekins under a hot broiler for 1–2 minutes, watching closely to prevent burning.
- Let the caramelized sugar harden for 2–3 minutes, then serve immediately.
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