Most crème brûlées suffer from a trio of problems: The temperature is tepid, not cold; the custard is leaden, not ethereal; and the flavors are tired. A proper crème brûlée should have a crackly bittersweet sugar crust over a chilly custard of balanced egginess, creaminess, and sweetness. It's a masterful work of temperature, texture, and taste. With a lot of testing, we discovered the keys to the perfect crème brûlée recipe: lots of yolks for richness, turbinado sugar for a crunchy crust, an instant-read thermometer for judging the custard’s doneness, and a final chill for the best texture.
What Can Go Wrong:
1. Separated Egg Yolks Before Steeping Cream
Bad Outcome: The surface of the yolks are dry and form a film. What You Should Do: Make sure you do not separate the eggs until after you have steeped the cream for 15 minutes.
2.Custard is Undercooked or Overcooked
Bad Outcome: The custard does not set up or it is lumpy. What You Should Do: We provide both temperature and visual cues for when the custard is ready to be taken out of the oven. The most accurate way to determine if the custard is done is to use an instant-read thermometer (which will come in handy for many kitchen applications). The centers of custards should be just barely set and no longer sloshy, and a digital instant-read thermometer inserted in centers should register 170 to 175 degrees.
3.Left Ramekins in Fridge Too Long After Caramelizing Tops
Bad Outcome: The top of the custard isn’t crunchy. What You Should Do: Make sure you only rechill the custards after bruleeing the tops for 30 to 45 minutes at the most. If you leave them in the fridge too long, the tops will get soggy. You can fix this by using the torch to burn the tops a little more—just make sure to let the sugar top cool before eating!
Can I Substitute The Demerara Sugar?
Yes, you can substitute it with light or dark brown sugar.
Equipment:
Liquid measuring cup
Dry measuring cups
Heavy-bottomed saucepan
Paring knife
Wooden spoon
Roasting pan
Kettle
Kitchen towel
Notes Eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins
Small bowl
Large bowl
Whisk
Fine-mesh strainer
Ladle
Instant-read digital thermometer
Wire cooling rack
Tongs
Metal spatula
Mini butane kitchen torch
RECIPE:
Classic Crème Brûlée:
Creme Brulee is one of our favorite easy dessert recipes with only 4 ingredients. The silky texture and rich vanilla flavor make this taste restaurant quality.
Total Time:
1 hour (plus at least 6 hours to cool and chill)
MAKES:Eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins
Ingredients
4 cups heavy cream, chilled
⅔ cup granulated sugar
Pinch table salt
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise*
12 large egg yolks*
8-12 teaspoons turbinado sugar, or Demerara sugar*
Directions
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees.
Combine 2 cups cream, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan; with paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into pan, submerge pod in cream, and bring mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure that sugar dissolves. Take pan off heat and let steep 15 minutes to infuse flavors.
Meanwhile, place kitchen towel in bottom of large baking dish or roasting pan and arrange eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) on towel. Bring kettle or large saucepan of water to boil over high heat.
After cream has steeped, stir in remaining 2 cups cream to cool down mixture. Whisk yolks in large bowl until broken up and combined. Whisk about 1 cup cream mixture into yolks until loosened and combined; repeat with another 1 cup cream. Add remaining cream and whisk until evenly colored and thoroughly combined. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into 2-quart measuring cup or pitcher (or clean medium bowl); discard solids in strainer. Pour or ladle mixture into ramekins, dividing it evenly among them.
Carefully place baking dish with ramekins on oven rack; pour boiling water into dish, taking care not to splash water into ramekins, until water reaches two-thirds height of ramekins. Bake until centers of custards are just barely set and are no longer sloshy and digital instant-read thermometer inserted in centers registers 170 to 175 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes (25 to 30 minutes for shallow fluted dishes). Begin checking temperature about 5 minutes before recommended time.
Transfer ramekins to wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Set ramekins on rimmed baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 4 days.
Uncover ramekins; if condensation has collected on custards, place paper towel on surface to soak up moisture. Sprinkle each with about 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar (1 1/2 teaspoons for shallow fluted dishes); tilt and tap ramekin for even coverage. Ignite torch and caramelize sugar. Refrigerate ramekins, uncovered, to re-chill, 30 to 45 minutes (but no longer); serve.
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