Classic Crème Brûlée
A silky, barely-set vanilla custard crowned with a glass-thin layer of caramelized sugar that shatters satisfyingly under a spoon. One of the great desserts in the world — and one that requires nothing but eggs, cream, sugar, and vanilla.
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Crème brûlée is the perfect make-ahead dinner party dessert — the custards must be chilled for at least 4 hours, so you make them the morning before your dinner party and brûlée the sugar just before serving. The dramatic shattering of that caramelized crust never fails to impress.
The technique is classic custard-making: heat cream, temper it into beaten egg yolks and sugar, strain, and bake in a gentle water bath (bain-marie) that surrounds the ramekins with moist heat and prevents the custard from curdling or developing a rubbery texture. The custard is done when it's just barely set — it should wobble like firm Jell-O in the center when you shake the ramekin.
Ingredients
- 480ml (2 cups) heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract)
- 5 large egg yolks
- 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- Pinch of fine salt
- 4 tbsp granulated or superfine sugar (for the brûlée crust)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 165°C (325°F). Place 4 ramekins in a deep roasting pan.
- Heat the cream. Combine heavy cream and vanilla bean (seeds and pod) in a saucepan. Heat over medium until steaming and small bubbles appear around the edges — do not boil. Remove from heat, let steep 10 minutes. Remove pod.
- Make the custard base. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt together in a bowl until pale and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Temper the eggs. Very slowly pour the warm cream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour in a thin, steady stream — too fast and you'll scramble the eggs. This is called tempering.
- Strain. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any cooked egg bits and the vanilla pod. You want a perfectly smooth custard.
- Bake in water bath. Divide custard among ramekins. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 35–40 minutes until the edges are set but the center still wobbles like firm jello. Do not overbake.
- Chill. Remove ramekins from water bath. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.
- Brûlée. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly over each ramekin. Using a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar in circular motions from about 2 inches away until it melts, bubbles, and turns deep amber. Let the crust harden 60 seconds before serving.
Chef's Pro Tips
- The water bath is non-negotiable — it provides gentle, even heat that prevents curdling and creates the silky texture.
- Under-cooked is better than over-cooked. An over-baked crème brûlée is grainy and weeping. Pull it out when the center still wobbles.
- Superfine sugar brulee more evenly than granulated. Run regular sugar in a blender for 30 seconds to make it superfine.
- Let the brûlée cool for 60 seconds before serving — the caramelized crust needs time to harden.