Crème Brûlée

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Simple. Classic. Done properly.

This crème brûlée recipe is one of the great classics of French dessert making—simple ingredients transformed into something elegant through careful technique. Made with cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla, it delivers a silky custard beneath a thin, crackling caramel top.

What makes crème brûlée special is contrast: cool, rich custard underneath and a crisp burnt-sugar lid above. Done properly, it feels luxurious without being complicated. This version keeps things classic, with a smooth vanilla custard, gentle baking in a water bath, and just enough caramelised sugar to give that signature crack.

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What is crème brûlée

Crème brûlée is a classic French custard dessert made with cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. It is gently baked until just set, then chilled and finished with a thin layer of caramelised sugar.

What does it taste like

It is rich, smooth, and creamy with a clean vanilla flavour. The burnt sugar topping adds bitterness and crunch, which balances the sweetness of the custard underneath.

How to use / serve crème brûlée

Serve it as:

• a classic dinner party dessert
• a refined finish to a special meal
• a make-ahead dessert for entertaining

It is best served chilled, with the sugar caramelised just before serving.

Creme Brulee

Mark Dexter

A classic crème brûlée with silky vanilla custard and a crisp caramel top, baked gently and finished properly.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

10 minutes resting time 2 minutes mins

Total Time 47 minutes mins

Equipment

• 4 Brulee dishes I use little terracotta pots, but you can use ramekins or small oven-proof dishes – there is no harm is using one large baking dish.
• 1 deep roasting tray We will use this to create a water bath to gently cook the Brulee's make sure it is large enough to fit all the dishes in well worth checking first.
• 1 Pot
• 1 Large bowl
• 1 whisk
• 1 Paring knife
• 1 Kitchen Blow Torch

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the Brulee custard

• 8 each Egg yolks The whites can be frozen for later use for meringue's etc
• 100 gram Caster / or Fine Sugar
• 600 ml Thick/Double Cream
• 1 each Fresh Vanilla pod requires splitting and scraping the seeds

Instructions

 

Preparing the Brulee custard

• The first step is to turn the oven temperature required is 160°C / 320°F.
• Pour the cream into your pot
• If using a vanilla pod, split the pod lengthways down the middle to expose the vanilla beans
• Scrape out the seeds, add them to the cream and give the cream a quick whisk just to disperse the beans.
• Add the empty pod to the cream, as it still has flavour to give.

Next, deal with the eggs.

• Get your large bowl and a second container I use a takeaway container, then separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
• What we need is the Egg yolks in our bowl and the whites in the container (we can freeze the whites for later use, e.g. meringue's etc).
• Add to the egg yolks the 100g of sugar mix together with the whisk the egg and sugar just need to be well blended, no need to make them fluffy or anything.

Final steps for the custard

• Place the pot with the cream and vanilla on medium heat, and gently heat the cream to a simmer.
• Warming the cream will help the vanilla infuse all its flavour for an aromatic result.
• Add all cream contents to the egg yolk and sugar mix and whisk to combine
• Leave the vanilla in the mix for as long as possible and will keep on infusing flavour into our custard.

Prepare the water bath

• Prepare this as close to your oven as possible. Once we have our tray, brulees, and water together, it can be a little tricky to move.
• get your deep tray and place the oven-proof dish, dishes or ramekins into the tray.
• Remove the whole pod from our cream and egg mix and carefully pour it into a jug.
• Fill the brulee dishes about three-quarters full.
• Divide the cream and egg mix equally between your dishes, or if using one large dish, fill to the level of about three-quarters.
• So far, we should have our roasting with our brulee dishes, and the cream and egg mix equally divided between those dishes aiming to have each one at three-quaters full, if it is a little less or a little more don't worry.
• The last step before we bake. The little pots of cream mixture need to be sat in water this slows down the cooking, so the mixture simply sets to a delicious smooth custard.
• Slowly add to the roasting tray enough water so that it rises just over halfway up the brulee dishes, be careful not to splash any water into our cream mix.
• With a steady hand, carefully place our tray into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

The final touches

• When cooked, the brulee's should feel firm with a slight wobble. Remove from the oven very carefully and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
• Next remove the brulee's from the water bath, they should be cool enough to handle but still a little warm. With a cloth, dry the bottoms of the dishes.
• Allow to cool completely – the brulee's can be refrigerated for later use if you are preparing them in advance, just remove them from the fridge about half an hour before serving.

To serve your creations.

• To caramelise the top of your cooled brulee's, take each of the brulee's and sprinkle liberally with fine sugar.
• Make sure there is an even coating of sugar covering the top of the brulee.
• With a blow torch very carefully caramelise the sugar to golden brown, as the heat hits the sugar , the sugar will melt and bubble –
• When this happens the sugar is hot enough to keep colouring so adjust the heat as required or you risk burning the sugar.
• Once the Sugar has cooled it sets and you have that nice golden crisp covering.
• Simply serve on its own or with some fresh seasonal berries.

Chef tip

Bake until the custard is just set with a slight wobble — not firm.

Kook’s Secret

Torch the sugar just before serving. That’s what keeps the top crisp and the contrast perfect.

KOOK’S SECRETS

Keyword brulee, caramel, creamy, custard, vanilla

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

How to prepare crème brûlée

1. Heat the cream with vanilla
2. Whisk yolks and sugar together
3. Combine gently
4. Pour into ramekins
5. Bake in a water bath
6. Chill completely
7. Cover with sugar
8. Torch until golden and crisp

Chef’s Tips

• Don’t boil the cream
• Don’t whisk too hard once cream and yolks are combined
• Bake until just set with a slight wobble
• Chill fully before brûléeing the top
• Use fine sugar for a more even caramel layer

Common mistakes

• Overheating the custard base
• Overbaking until firm
• Splashing water into the ramekins
• Caramelising the sugar unevenly
• Burning the sugar instead of caramelising it

Quick Answer

Crème brûlée is a French vanilla custard dessert finished with a thin caramelised sugar crust. The key is gentle baking, full chilling, and caramelising the sugar just before serving.

FAQ’s

What is crème brûlée made of?
Cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla form the base of a classic crème brûlée.

How do you get crème brûlée silky?
Heat the cream gently, combine carefully, and bake the custard slowly in a water bath.

Can you make crème brûlée ahead of time?
Yes. Bake and chill the custards ahead, then caramelise the sugar just before serving.

What’s the best sugar for crème brûlée?
Fine sugar or caster sugar gives a more even caramelised crust.

Why is my crème brûlée grainy?
Usually the custard has been overheated or overbaked.

Quick Answer

Crème brûlée is a classic French dessert made from vanilla custard topped with caramelised sugar. It should be silky underneath and crisp on top.

Chef’s Note

Crème brûlée is not difficult — it is precise. Gentle heat, patience, and restraint are what make it elegant.

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