The crème brûlée recipe
for your table
Heat the heavy cream with the split vanilla pod until just below boiling, then let it steep off the heat for fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, slowly pour in the warm cream while stirring, then strain the whole mixture through a fine sieve.
Place the dishes in a deep oven dish and pour in hot water until it reaches halfway up the sides. The crème cooks in this water bath at about 100 degrees and must not boil: as soon as the mixture really boils, the egg curdles and you get a grainy crème with liquid around it. Loosely cover the dish with foil to prevent a skin from forming.
It is done when the center still moves slightly when you tap the dish and the edge has already set. That feels too soft, but it will firm up further in the refrigerator; if you wait until the center is still too, it will be too firm later. Let the dishes cool and refrigerate them for at least three hours.
Just before serving, sprinkle a thin, even layer of cane sugar over the cold crème and caramelize it with a torch until brown and bubbling. Do not use a grill: it also heats the crème underneath, and then it is no longer crème brûlée but a warm dessert.
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Send the crème brûlée recipe to your own email, so you have it at hand when you are ready to make it. You will also receive a € 5 discount code on orders from € 50, for the glasses that go with it.
The story
Crème brûlée is French for burnt cream, and the name describes exactly what happens. The custard itself is one of the simplest things in a kitchen: cream, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla, without a thickener. The egg does the work, and egg sets within a narrow temperature range. Below that, the mixture remains liquid; above it, it curdles and the moisture runs out. The bain-marie is the solution to that problem: water cannot become hotter than one hundred degrees, so neither can the custard. The crust came later and is pure technique: a layer of sugar that melts in a few seconds and becomes hard again as it cools.
The right glass
A crème brûlée should be low and wide, and that is not a matter of taste but of mathematics. The crust is half the dessert, and with the same portion, a larger surface simply gives you more crust per bite; what is more, a thin layer of custard cooks much more evenly in a bain-marie than a deep dish, in which the outside is ready while the center is still runny. According to the description, the glass below is 5.6 centimeters high with a diameter of 7.6 centimeters, exactly that ratio, and has a thick base. The coupelle next to it is also wide and low and stands on a low foot. One honest caveat: neither description states that the glass is oven-safe, so do not assume they can withstand a bain-marie. In that case, cook the custard in an ovenproof dish, then spoon it into the glass once cold and torch the crust there. More models can be found among the dessert glasses.
RCR Circus Low Tumbler 17 cl (6 pieces)
La Rochere Coupelle 18 cl Alice (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 54,90.
The right tools
For a crème brûlée, in addition to the glass, use a fine strainer to pour the crème through and a fine grater for the tonka bean or nutmeg in the variations. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glassware set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 52,85.
What will you pour with it?
A crème brûlée is rich, fatty, and sweet, so whatever you pair with it can counterbalance that. Bubbles do this best: champagne and crémant cut through the cream and refresh your palate for the next bite. If you prefer sweet with sweet, pour a small glass of moscato. On each drink page, you can find the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it pairs with, and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Let a heaping spoonful of coarsely ground coffee steep in the warm cream, then strain it out: you keep the original structure, but the vanilla gives way to coffee. A teaspoon of dried lavender works just as well, although fifteen minutes is more than enough steeping time. Grate a tonka bean over the cream just before straining; it adds an almond-like note close to vanilla. Keep the rest of the recipe unchanged for each variation so you can genuinely compare the flavors. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Servingtip
Make the cream a day in advance so it has plenty of time to set, leaving only one step to do on the evening itself. Take the dishes out of the refrigerator fifteen minutes before serving, then sprinkle the cane sugar over them and brûlée it. The crust will become moist again after half an hour because of the cream underneath, so this is not a step you can do ahead of time.
Good to know
Why use a water bath, and why must the cream not boil?
The cream is set solely by egg yolk, and egg sets within a narrow temperature window. If the mixture goes beyond that window, the proteins contract, squeeze out the moisture, and you end up with a grainy cream surrounded by a puddle of water. There’s nothing you can do about it then. A water bath prevents this because the water itself never gets hotter than one hundred degrees, and the heat also enters evenly from all sides. Pour the water halfway up the dishes and top it up if too much evaporates during cooking.
When is a crème brûlée cooked?
Tap the edge of the dish with a spoon. The edges should be set, while the center should still move slightly, like a patch beneath a sheet. It feels too soft at this point, but the cream will firm up further in the refrigerator: the binding created by the egg becomes firm once it is cold. If you wait until the center is still too, you’ll end up with a cream with the texture of a flan. Allow roughly forty minutes for small dishes, but go by the test rather than the clock.
Why use a blowtorch instead of a grill?
A blowtorch works from a few centimeters away and takes seconds; the heat only reaches the sugar layer, while the cream underneath stays cold. A grill heats the entire dish, from top to bottom and from the outside in, and takes minutes to do so. By the time the sugar is brown, the cream is lukewarm and may have started to soften again. You still have something delicious, but not crème brûlée: the contrast in temperature between the warm crust and the cold cream is precisely what it’s all about.
Why do you pour the cream through a sieve?
Every egg contains strands, the chalazae, which do not dissolve and which you will find between your teeth later. In addition, a yolk always clumps slightly when warm cream is added, no matter how gently you pour. A fine sieve removes both in one step, along with the vanilla pod and any coffee grounds or lavender in a variation. It takes ten seconds and makes the difference between smooth and almost smooth.
When do you caramelize the crust?
Just before serving, and not earlier. Caramelized sugar is a glassy layer that attracts moisture, and it sits on cold, moist crème. Within half an hour, it changes from hard and crackly to sticky, and after an hour there is nothing left to tap. Sprinkle the raw sugar thinly and evenly; a thick layer will not melt through from below and will remain grainy.
Frequently asked questions
How do you know when crème brûlée is done?
Tap the edge of the dish: the edges should be set while the center still jiggles slightly. That may seem too soft, but the crème sets further in the refrigerator. If the center is already still in the oven, it will become too firm when cold.
Can you make crème brûlée without a torch?
You can do it under the broiler, but the result is different. The broiler takes minutes to caramelize the sugar and heats the crème underneath during that time. The contrast between a warm crust and cold crème, which the dish relies on, then disappears.
Can you make crème brûlée in a glass?
Serving it in a glass is fine, but cooking it usually isn't: a glass's description rarely says it is oven-safe, and a water bath puts considerable stress on it. Cook the crème in an ovenproof dish, spoon it into the glass once cold, and caramelize the crust there.
How far in advance can you make crème brûlée?
You can easily make the crème a day ahead; covered in the refrigerator, its texture only improves. Caramelize the crust just before serving, because caramelized sugar becomes moist within half an hour and loses its crunch.
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