Crème brulée
Crème brûlée (burned cream) is quite easy to prepare: it's a simple egg-cream dessert. The only difficulty is in making the delicious crunchy caramel layer on top. The perfect crème brulée (for me) is a cold and soft cream, with on top a nice hot caramel crust.
This is a completely new version of the former recipe, with video.
This is a completely new version of the former recipe, with video.
4 hours 40 min.
Average
12 people
6 IngredientsLast modified on: December 31th 2011
For 12 people, you will need:
- 1
1 lb + 1.6 oz Milk - 2
1 lb + 1.6 oz cream - 3
4.2 oz caster sugar - 4
2 vanillas pod - 5
12 egg yolks - 6 12 tablespoons caster sugar
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 25 min.
Resting: 3 hours 45 min.
Cooking: 30 min.
All in all: 4 hours 40 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 5 min.
Into a pan pour 1 lb + 1.6 oz Milk, 1 lb + 1.6 oz cream, and 2 vanillas pod, cut in half lengthways, and all the small black seeds inside added to the milk+cream mix.
Bring to the boil over medium heat.
Remove from heat, cover and leave the vanilla to infuse for about 10-15 minutes.
Bring to the boil over medium heat.
Remove from heat, cover and leave the vanilla to infuse for about 10-15 minutes.
Stage 2 - 15 min.
Meanwhile, in the solid shelf of your oven (or a deep baking sheet), put a large sheet of paper.
The paper is there to prevent boiling water to making bubbles when cooking, and so keep the cream smooth.
The paper is there to prevent boiling water to making bubbles when cooking, and so keep the cream smooth.
Stage 3 - 2 min.
Place your dishes on it.
Stage 4 - 10 min.
Stage 5 - 2 min.
Stage 6 - 2 min.
Pour the vanilla milk onto into the egg mixture while stirring.
Stage 7
Stop stirring as soon as mixed.
Stage 8 - 5 min.
Rinse pan and pour contents of bowl back into pan through a strainer...
Stage 9
... to remove all pieces of vanilla pod, but NOT the small black grains (so not too fine a strainer).
Stage 10
Your cream is ready for cooking.
Stage 11 - 5 min.
A little trick: If you want the little black vanilla seeds to be well distributed in the cream, you must prevent them to fall in the bottom of the pots, which inevitably comes with a liquid preparation as it.
The trick is therefore a slightly pre-cook of the cream over low heat, like a real custard sauce (crème anglaise), to thicken a little, until we can trace with his finger on the spatula and the line stay (as pictured). Note: If you do this, reduce the oven cooking time to about 15 minutes.
The trick is therefore a slightly pre-cook of the cream over low heat, like a real custard sauce (crème anglaise), to thicken a little, until we can trace with his finger on the spatula and the line stay (as pictured). Note: If you do this, reduce the oven cooking time to about 15 minutes.
Stage 12 - 20 min.
Divide cream between dishes, put in the oven, and pour boiling water into the tray.
Cook for about 20 minutes, until creams are just cooked but still soft.
Cook for about 20 minutes, until creams are just cooked but still soft.
Stage 13 - 3 hours
Remove from oven, allow creams to cool for about one hour, then refrigerate for at least two hours.
Creams should be really cold.
Creams should be really cold.
Stage 14 - 2 min.
This is THE delicate moment, burning...
Pour a tablespoon of sugar on top of cream, and burn it like on this small demonstration video.
Note: the best tool for burning cream is a blow-lamp. If you don't have one, see below how to use your grill.
Pour a tablespoon of sugar on top of cream, and burn it like on this small demonstration video.
Note: the best tool for burning cream is a blow-lamp. If you don't have one, see below how to use your grill.
Stage 15
In the end you should get the famous thin brown crust all over the surface of the cream.
Stage 16 - 30 min.
Put the cream back in the fridge for about 30 minutes for caramel to set and become crunchy, and the cream cold again.
Reheat crust a few seconds before serving your guests with the perfect crème brulée: cold cream with a fine layer of hot crunchy caramel.
Reheat crust a few seconds before serving your guests with the perfect crème brulée: cold cream with a fine layer of hot crunchy caramel.
Remarks
As I said, the perfect crème brûlée (for me) is a soft and cold cream with a thin hot, brown and crunchy crust. Here are some tips:
If you do not have a blowlamp, you can try using your grill: put creams in the grill pan (or deep solid baking sheet), add cold water to half the depth of the dishes, and put under grill for just one or two minutes (maximum) to caramelize sugar. Cold water is there to protect cream against the heat, but it's very difficult because the grill is always too hot.
Some different flavours:
- Pre-cook the cream a little in the pan before putting into dishes, it will be less liquid, so the black grains of vanilla will be evenly mixed in the cream and not sink to the bottom. If you do this, reduce the oven cooking time to about 15 minutes.
- Proceed in two stages: burn the creams and refrigerate for about half an hour to cool. Just before serving, re-heat them with the blowlamp for just a few seconds.
- It's easier to get a good crust if you use white sugar rather than brown, but it's a matter of taste.
If you do not have a blowlamp, you can try using your grill: put creams in the grill pan (or deep solid baking sheet), add cold water to half the depth of the dishes, and put under grill for just one or two minutes (maximum) to caramelize sugar. Cold water is there to protect cream against the heat, but it's very difficult because the grill is always too hot.
Some different flavours:
- Crème brûlée with almonds: add 20 g ground almonds to the milk before heating, and add 3 drops of almond extract to the cream before pouring into dishes.
- Mint and chocolate crème brûlée: add a handful of mint leaves (cut roughly with scissors) to the milk. Proceed as usual, but when burned and cooled, put a small layer of melted chocolate onto the brown crust, put back in the fridge for a few minutes until the chocolate sets.
- Pear and maple syrup crème brûlée: dice pears like for verre façon "Belle Hélène", put these into dishes before adding cream and proceed as usual. Surprise your guests - don't tell them what's in your Crème brûlée!
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 80 RDI=30 % | 340 RDI=30 % | 250 RDI=40 % | 3,930 RDI=200 % | 16,450 RDI: 200 % |
| Per 100 g | 5 RDI=2 % | 20 RDI=2 % | 20 RDI=2 % | 250 RDI=10 % | 1,060 RDI: 10 % |
| Per person | 6 RDI=3 % | 30 RDI=3 % | 20 RDI=3 % | 330 RDI=20 % | 1,370 RDI: 20 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 12 people : 8.70 €
- Per person : 0.75 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipe
Belle-helene in a glass
It's a recipe where you make 4 layers of different creams in a small glass: vanilla cream, small dice of pear cooked in maple syrup, chocolate mousse and whipped cream. It should be served to your guests cool but not too cold .
261 K3.8 1 hour 50 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Cream
Like these other recipes: Soft apple cookies, Gratin of beet tops and potatoes, Bounty-style tart for Alison, Green bean purée, Pasta with green asparagus, ... See them all 115
Caster sugar
Like these other recipes: Chocolate sauce, Pistachio shortbread biscuits, Mini palmiers, Far Normandy-Brittany, Caramelized pear custard tart, ... See them all 360
Egg yolk
Like these other recipes: Chocolate mousse, Baked potatoes with poached egg and tuna sauce , Jamaican cup, Key Lime Pie for Jeremy, Apple confectioner's custard, ... See them all 73
Other recipes you may also like
Choux pastry (pâte à choux)
Choux pastry is used for making profiteroles, eclairs and other small pastries.February 13th 2022540 K4.5 1 hour 4 min.
How to use gelatin
Gelatin is a gelling agent use in some desserts where a rather firm texture is required when cold. It can also be used to stabilize a dessert (mousses especially) that you need to keep longer than usual.July 9th 2018418 K4.8 7 min.
Lettuce "chiffonade"
Chiffonade is a French term meaning "made of rags.", it consists of shredding the heart of a lettuce into thin ribbons.February 21th 2011227 K 15 35 min.
Liège waffles
Liège waffles have a very distinctive texture: quite dense with the crunch of sugar crystals. They also have a characteristic form: round and fairly small. Then there's that special flavour that comes with the delicious light caramel crust.July 12th 2011264 K5 1 hour 55 min.
Doughnuts
Ring doughnuts are a traditional American treat. In the United States they are part of the culture and come plain or with lots of different icings and toppings. Here is a recipe for plain doughnuts to which you can add your own choice of icing.September 22th 2013113 K4.7 3 hours 15 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-07-06)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Follow this recipe (as 9 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.
The 7 comments already posted on this recipe
Bon, ceci dit, avec les recettes de ce site vous avez un bouton de conversion automatique dans tous les sens.