If you thought a classic crème brulee couldn’t get any better, try adding white chocolate and think again! This recipe for White Chocolate Crème Brûlée is soon to become your new go-to dinner party dessert.
I bet you’ve ordered crème brûlée at a restaurant more times than you can count. But how many times have you made it? It isn’t the kind of dessert you can pick up from a bakery or store so if you’d like to enjoy this creamy treat at home, you have only one option. Learn how to make it, and this recipe will show you exactly how.
If you love trying out different dessert recipes, then you have to try this recipe for Espresso Panna Cotta or this recipe for Pistachio Tiramisu.
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What is Crème Brûlée
Crème brûlée or burnt custard is a rich custard made from cream and eggs baked in individual servings. The custard is chilled and just before serving the surface of the crème brûlée is coated in sugar, which is then torched to make its iconic crust.
Although most people identify this dessert as French in its origin, a very similar version is made in Spain, Crema Catalana. There are some obvious differences in that the Spanish version is made from milk rather than cream and is often flavored with citrus peel, cinnamon, and sometimes even saffron. Meanwhile, the French variation is commonly not flavored.
What is Crème Brûlée made from?
Crème brûlée is made from cream, egg yolks, salt and sugar. For this version of the classic, I have added white chocolate. I have seen many interpretations of this dessert like milk chocolate, lemon, Amarula, vanilla bean, coffee, and even raspberry. So, if white chocolate isn’t your first choice get creative with what you have in your cupboards!
Ingredients
To make this delicious dessert, you will need the simple ingredients listed below. Use fresh, quality, and room temperature ingredients for this recipe.
- Egg yolks
- Castor sugar
- Heavy cream
- White chocolate
- Salt
- Demarera sugar
Egg yolks – this recipe uses egg yolks only. If you are wondering what to do with your leftover egg whites, see this recipe for Mini Meringues.
Castor sugar – use superfine caster sugar for this recipe.
Heavy cream - heavy cream refers to creams with a fat content higher than 36%. In South Africa, these creams are often called whipping cream. Please don’t make the mistake of confusing this with double thick cream or pouring cream, it isn’t the same!
White chocolate – this crème brulee recipe is flavored with white chocolate, I used Nestle Milkybar. Choose a white chocolate bar that doesn’t have any filling or use white chocolate chips.
Demarera sugar – I find the best crème brulee crust is made with demarera sugar. If you don’t any, white granulated sugar will also work.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
STEP 1: Preheat oven. Preheat the oven to 150°C and place 7 standard-sized ramekins into a large roasting dish.
STEP 2: Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Add the yolks, sugar, and salt to a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk until just combined but not aerated.
STEP 3: Heat cream. In a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat, add the cream. Allow the cream to come to a simmer, do not boil. Remove from the heat.
STEP 4: Add chocolate. Add the chopped chocolate to the cream and stir with a wooden spoon until melted.
STEP 5: Add cream to egg mixture. With the motor of the electric mixer running at a low speed, slowly add the hot cream mixture to the egg mixture.
STEP 6: Fill ramekins. Once the cream mixture has been added to the egg and sugar mixture, pour the mixture through a sieve into a jug. Fill the ramekins with the custard mixture.
STEP 7: Bake. Place the oven tray into the oven. Once in the oven, fill the oven tray halfway up the sides of the ramekins with hot water. Bake in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until just set.
STEP 8: Chill. Remove the roasting dish from the oven and then remove the ramekins from the water bath. Place them in the fridge to set for a few hours, ideally overnight.
STEP 9: Sugar crust. When you are ready to serve, sprinkle a layer of granulated sugar over the surface of each crème brulee, and use a handheld blow torch to melt the sugar. Serve and enjoy!
Is Crème Brûlée hard to make?
Like all desserts, there are a few things that one needs to keep in mind to avoid disaster. This is especially true for custard-type desserts as any oversight in timing or temperature can mean a grainy, split, or curdled custard.
Adding the scalding cream to the yolks is when things can go very wrong! You need to temper the eggs and the cream, meaning that the cream and the yolks need to be gradually brought to the same temperature.
If you add the cream too quickly to the egg and sugar mixture you will ‘cook’ the yolks, which will result in a lumpy rather unpleasant custard. There will be dark yellow specs in the custard and this will be an indication that you have not tempered the cream and yolks correctly.
How to avoid lumps in Crème Brûlée
To avoid a lumpy scrambled egg-like texture two things are important, use room-temperature eggs and ask someone for help when tempering! You whisk, and they pour.
When tempering the eggs and cream, my assistant (usually my sister!) will slowly pour the cream down the side of the bowl into the sugar and yolk mixture. This helps ensure you are whisking properly, not just in the middle of the bowl. If there isn’t anyone around, I use my electric mixer at a very low speed and follow the same process. If you are worried that you have accidentally cooked the yolks, you can sieve the custard before adding it to the ramekins but this shouldn’t be necessary if you’ve followed the tips above (but I do it anyway)!
Variations
Once you have mastered this recipe feel free to get creative with how you flavour your crème brûlée. Leave out the chocolate and add a little lemon zest for a citrus flavour or add a little espresso powder to the cream and you’ll have a delicious coffee dessert!
Equipment
You don’t need any fancy equipment to make this recipe. I chose to use a stand mixer as I find it difficult to add the hot cream and whisk at the same time. This can also be done with a normal whisk and a large mixing bowl.
You will also need a kitchen torch to heat the sugar crust. If you don’t have one, you can melt the sugar on the stovetop and pour a little over each dessert, swirling it to create a layer of melted sugar.
Storage
You can store this dessert in the fridge for up to 3 days and only add the sugar to the top before serving.
I do not recommend freezing this dessert.
Top Tips
- Take care when separating the eggs.
- Temper the eggs and hot cream carefully. If the cream is too hot or you add it too quickly the yolks will cook and form hard pieces.
- Allow enough time for the desserts to set in the fridge.
- To ensure the custards don’t absorb any odors from the fridge while setting I recommend covering the tops of each ramekin with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
FAQ
Crème brûlée is served cold. After the custard has cooked in the oven, the crème brûlées are placed in the fridge to cool and set. The desserts are left in the fridge until just before serving. The sugar is then added to the tops of the custard and is torched. It is important to not torch the sugar too far ahead of serving as the sugar crust will soften over time. When the sugar coating is cracked with a spoon, you want it to make that classic cracking sound. This won’t happen if the sugar is burnt too soon, and definitely don’t place the crème brûlées in the fridge after the sugar topping has been added!
Crème brûlée is a dessert that is best served individually. If however, you do not have ceramic ramekins then you could bake the custard in a large glass or ceramic dish. The cooking time will just have to be adjusted based on the size of the dish.
There are a few ways to achieve the iconic sugar crust on a crème brûlée. Most often people use a blowtorch, but you can also use the grill/ broiler setting on your oven. Another way that I like to use to achieve the sugar crust is to melt sugar in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove until lightly golden. I then pour this over the top of the custards, swirling the ramekin until the top is evenly coated.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
They’re a little bit fancy and a whole lot of delicious and that is what makes this dessert a favourite on so many menus around the world. So, if you give this creamy custard dessert a try the next time you are cooking for a special occasion please leave a comment and star review below I would love to hear from you!
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Happy Baking
With Love,
Kitty
📖 Recipe
White Chocolate Crème Brûlée
Equipment
- 7x ramekins 10cm diameter (4 inches)
Ingredients
- 5 egg yolks extra large
- 60 g castor sugar
- 500 ml whipping cream
- 100 g MilkyBar white chocolate chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 80 g sugar demarera
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150°C and place 7 standard-sized ramekins into a large roasting dish.
- Add the yolks, sugar, and salt to a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk until just combined but not aerated.
- In a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat, add the cream. Allow the cream to come to a simmer, do not boil. Remove from the heat.
- Add the chopped chocolate to the cream and stir with a wooden spoon until melted.
- With the motor of the electric mixer running at a low speed, slowly add the hot cream mixture to the egg mixture.
- Once the cream mixture has been added to the egg and sugar mixture, pour the mixture through a sieve and into a jug. Fill the ramekins with the custard mixture.
- Place the oven tray into the oven. Once in the oven, fill the oven tray halfway up the sides of the ramekins with hot water. Bake in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until just set.
- Remove the roasting dish from the oven and remove the ramekins from the water bath. Place the ramekins in the fridge to set for a few hours, ideally overnight.
- When you are ready to serve, sprinkle a layer of granulated sugar over the surface of each crème brulee, and use a handheld blow torch to melt the sugar. Serve and enjoy!
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