Crème Brûlée

Crème brûlée.

It's French. It's fancy. It's delicious.

AND, it is super easy to make. 

I'm serious.

I'm not talking "easy if you've got a PhD in French cooking". I'm talking "easy if you have an oven and are not lactose intolerant".


I love dairy. Cheese, milk, cream! Most foods I make contain at least one of those ingredients, and if you're really lucky, all of them. The "creme" in creme brulee = cream = yum.

I found out about a month ago that one of the main ingredients in creme brulee is egg yolks. Yup, not whites, yolks. That means, when I make angel food cake, and need something to do with all of those leftover yolks, I can double-up on the dessert and use them in some creme brulee! Uh-yeah!


Well I promised you an easy recipe, so here it is:

Creme Brulee (makes 4 servings)

2 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place four 6 oz. ramekins into a baking dish. 

Whip together egg yolks, then add cream, sugar, and vanilla. Whip until evenly blended.

Pour the mixture into your ramekins, distributing evenly. It's ok if they are full, your creme brule won't rise. Fill the pan with the ramekins about two-thirds full with water. 

Place the pan into your oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the sides are set and the center still jiggles a little. 

Let cool. Sprinkle with a light, even coat of sugar. If you have a culinary torch on hand, go ahead and caramelize the tops. If not, place them under the broiler, with the tops of the dessert about 5 inches from the heat until the sugar has caramelized.


I do not have a culinary torch. Though...I do have a fella who was comfortable using a hand-held torch thing from his work shop to do the job. It worked brilliantly. I applaud improvisation.

This dessert is rich, and oh so creamy. If you would like to make it for guests, and you would like to leave out the part about how easy it is to make, I won't judge.



Enjoy!