Classic Crème Brûlée
Trembling vanilla custard baked in a bain-marie, chilled until set, then finished with a glassy burnt sugar top that cracks like fine porcelain.
🛒 Ingredients
- 600ml heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 6 large egg yolks
- 100g caster sugar, divided
- 6 tbsp caster sugar (for brûlée crust)
👨🍳 Method
- 1
Heat cream with vanilla pod and seeds over medium heat until just below boiling. Remove pod.
- 2
Whisk egg yolks and 100g sugar until pale and slightly thickened.
- 3
Slowly pour hot cream into yolks, whisking constantly. Do not scramble the eggs.
- 4
Skim any foam. Pour into 6 ramekins set in a deep baking tray.
- 5
Fill tray with boiling water halfway up the ramekins.
- 6
Bake at 150°C for 40-45 minutes until just set with a slight wobble in the center.
- 7
Cool, then refrigerate at least 4 hours.
- 8
Sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar over each. Brulee with a blowtorch in circular motions until deep amber.
💡 Chef's Tips
- →The custard should wobble like jelly in the center — it will set fully when chilled.
- →Add the sugar for the crust in two thin layers for a thicker, more even glassy top.
- →Always torch just before serving — a cold crust becomes soft and loses its crack.
More Dessert Recipes
Matcha Tiramisu
A Japanese-Italian love story. Ladyfingers soaked in ceremonial matcha, layered with cloud-like mascarpone cream and dusted with bitter matcha snow.
Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
A barely-set dark chocolate cake with a warm, liquid chocolate center that flows like lava. Served with vanilla ice cream for hot-cold perfection.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
The great British dessert: moist medjool date sponge baked in toffee sauce and served warm, drowned in even more sauce with cold clotted cream.