Easy Homemade Crème Brûlée Dessert

Make this super easy homemade crème brûlée recipe with a smooth and silky texture and crunchy caramel, just like in restaurants. Homemade crème brûlée comes together in just 5 minutes with three simple ingredients, but it tastes elegant and professional. You have to try it.

Best Homemade Crème Brûlée Recipe

Crème brûlée (which translates as burnt cream) is an incredibly popular French dessert that consists of a rich custard base cream topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar.

The combination of silky smooth vanilla bean custard and crunchy caramelized sugar topping will blow your mind! A classic Crème brûlée recipe is also naturally gluten-free, so it can be a great crowd-pleaser and works really well at dinner parties.

Making Crème brûlée at home might seem daunting, but it is almost too easy not to try. Trust me, even if you are a beginner in the kitchen, you can comfortably make this recipe. I include all my pro tips and tricks to get it right every time.

How to make creme brulee

Making custard is actually very similar to making pastry cream. You will need to temper the egg yolk so the mixture thickens slightly, and then fully bake it in the oven.

Heat heavy cream (36% fat), vanilla extract, and half of the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmering point. In the meantime, whisk egg yolks with the remaining sugar.

As the cream mixture starts simmering, immediately pour it slowly into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. Then, pour the custard mixture into your ramekins, dividing it equally among them.

Bake the Creme Brulee

Using a water bath to make Crème brûlée adds moisture to the oven, which helps prevent cracks from forming while baking and supports the dessert's creamy consistency. Otherwise, you can end up with a rubbery crème brûlée texture and a cracked crème brûlée surface.

Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F (no fan). The temperature needs to be quite low to avoid burning it.

Prepare a water bath by filling a deep-sided baking tray with warm water. Then, place the ramekins in the water, ensuring the water only covers half their height.

Bake the creme brulee for 30-45 minutes until the edges are set, but the centers are still slightly jiggly when you very gently nudge them. The cooking time will depend on the size of your ramekins. In my oven with my ramekins, it is about 45 minutes, but I suggest checking after 30 minutes.

Place the creme brulees in the fridge covered with plastic wrap for several hours to allow them to set fully.

How to caramelize the Creme brulee

Sprinkle around a tablespoon of demerara sugar or light brown sugar over the surface of each ramekin. Alternatively, use granulated sugar. Make sure the entire custard is covered with an even layer of sugar.

Then comes the fun part! Use your kitchen torch to gently caramelize the sugar all over the cream until it melts into a shiny, golden, bubbling layer. I suggest slowly waving the blowtorch all over the surface in a zig-zag pattern to avoid burning specific spots, as the sugar can burn very quickly.

Carefully place the homemade caramelized Crème Brûlées back into the fridge (be careful as the sugar on top will be very hot) to let the crunchy caramel layer set for a few minutes before serving immediately.

Storing and freezing

Store leftover Creme Brulee covered with plastic food wrap in the fridge and consume it within 2-3 days. This recipe does not freeze well.

Please note that the caramel layer will lose its crunchiness over time, so I suggest refrigerating the baked Crème Brûlée and only caramelizing the top shortly before serving. This is how it is done in restaurants.

It makes creme brulee a great dinner party dessert, as you can make and bake the custard ahead of time and brulee the surface when you need to serve it. Guests are always really impressed!

What equipment to use

Making crème brûlée at home does not require much equipment. You will need a saucepan, a mixing bowl, some oven-safe ramekins, and a kitchen blow torch.

Make your water bath out of a deep-sided oven tray or large baking dish. But make sure the bottom of the tray is flat! Otherwise, the custard will not be in a flat, even layer in the ramekins.

A blow torch is not an expensive piece of baking equipment, and it can be used in so many ways. I use it to caramelize meringue on lemon meringue tarts, on my creme brulee cake, or even to caramelize cheese in savory recipes. It is really fun to use and so handy!

Flavor variations

To give the creme brulee a citrus spike, add lemon, orange, or lime zest to the custard mixture along with the vanilla bean paste. For a festive twist, you could also add a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg or even some pumpkin spice.

Since you will only be using egg yolks, why not try some of my other recipes to use leftover egg whites, like my macaron recipe or pavlova?

Ingredient substitutions

It is difficult to substitute ingredients in a classic French dessert recipe like creme brulee, as it hinges on eggs and dairy. You can experiment with egg substitutes and dairy-free creams, but this will impact the taste and texture.

If you ever substitute ingredients in baking, you will also need to adjust the quantities and ratios of the other ingredients in the recipe. Unfortunately, I cannot accommodate all dietary needs or allergies.

To learn more, check out my list of baking guides, which list all the possible substitutions and how they may affect your recipes.

Expert tips to make Crème Brûlée

1. The secret behind the best creme brulee is using heavy cream with high-fat content, using only egg yolks and not whole eggs, and baking it in a water bath.
2. Always weigh ingredients by the gram using a digital scale for accuracy. Baking is a science, and it needs precision.
3. Use high-quality vanilla extract and not vanilla essence, which can taste synthetic. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before you begin.
4. Do not boil the cream, or it can scramble the eggs. Heat it just to a simmering point. You have to wait until it starts simmering so that the cream reaches a high enough temperature to temper the egg yolk, but no hotter than this.
5. The depth of the ramekins will affect the cook time. If you make this easy crème brûlée recipe in a more shallow ramekin, you must adjust the bake time it may cook faster and vice versa.
6. Crème brûlée will only achieve its creamy, silky texture once it sets in the fridge. Chill the baked creamy custard for 4-5 hours to be completely set before adding the sugar topping and caramelizing.
7. You need a strong flame that burns the sugar quickly without damaging the custard, and a kitchen blow torch is ideal for this. However, if you do not have one, you can caramelize the creme brulee under the broiler. It can burn very easily, so you need to watch it.

Try some of my other French desserts

If you loved this homemade creme brulee recipe, try some other classic French desserts.

• Creme brulee cake, your classic crème brûlée dessert just got even better with this irresistible vanilla crème brûlée cake!
• Charlotte cake will become your favorite no-bake French strawberry dessert for special occasions. It's luscious and full of fresh strawberry flavor.
• Financier are sweet little teacakes to serve as mini desserts or with coffee. They are delicate, super moist, and full of natural nutty flavors.
• Fraisier cake is simply a showstopper. No one will believe you didn't buy this French strawberry cake in a fancy patisserie. But it's much easier to make than you might think!
• Clafoutis is a classic French dessert with the most amazing texture. This flan-like recipe comes together really quickly and easily! I love to serve with with whipped cream or ice cream.

Have you tried this recipe?

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