Classic Crème Brûlée

This Classic Crème Brûlée recipe is smooth, creamy, and topped with a crisp caramelized sugar crust. With just four simple ingredients, it's an elegant yet easy French dessert you can make at home.

Jump to:

• Classic Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée: Deliciously Simple
• What Is Crème Brûlée? A French Dessert Made Easy
• Ingredients You'll Need
• Equipment You'll Need
• Step-by-Step: How to Make Classic Crème Brûlée
• Tips for Perfect Crème Brûlée
• Troubleshooting Common Issues
• Storage & Make-Ahead Tips
• FAQs About Crème Brûlée
• How to Serve Crème Brûlée
• More Custard Recipes You'll Love
• Classic Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée

Classic Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée: Deliciously Simple

Vanilla bean crème brûlée is creamy and light, with just the right amount of sweetness. It's a timeless dessert that feels special and is perfect for celebrating life's little moments.

I've always enjoyed making custards, so crème brûlée shouldn't have ever felt intimidating. But I'll admit - once upon a time, the idea of caramelizing sugar with an open flame sounded more like a dare than a dessert.

As it turns out, the torching is the fun part - and the rest of this French classic is surprisingly simple. With just cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla, you get a custard that's silky and rich, topped with that signature caramelized sugar crust. It's elegant, impressive, and easier to pull off at home than you might think.

What Is Crème Brûlée? A French Dessert Made Easy

Crème brûlée (literally, French for "burnt cream"), is a classic dessert that's been delighting diners for centuries. Its origins are a bit murky - both France and Spain claim early versions - but by the 17th century, it had become a staple in French kitchens and high-end restaurants.

At its core, crème brûlée is a simple custard: rich egg yolks, cream, sugar, and vanilla come together to create a silky, creamy base. What sets it apart is the final flourish - a thin layer of golden caramelized sugar on top. It's the crack of that crust we all remember, right before the first velvety bite. Heaven.

This combination of smooth custard and crunchy caramel is part of why crème brûlée is so beloved. Elegant yet approachable, it's a dessert that can elevate any meal, whether you're celebrating a holiday, a dinner party, or just treating yourself to something special at home.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Only 4 simple ingredients.
• Make-ahead friendly.
• Easy to pull off at home.
• Perfect for impressing guests or enjoying quietly.
• Vanilla bean adds authentic flavor and those signature flecks; vanilla extract works as a convenient substitute.

Ingredients You'll Need

Crème Brûlée requires just four simple (but non-negotiable) ingredients: heavy cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla.

• Heavy cream: We find that the results are better when using heavy whipping cream, versus regular whipping cream. (Heavy cream is higher in fat.)
• Egg yolks: Use large egg yolks. If you are using different size eggs, you need about ½ cup of egg yolks total.
• Sugar: Use granulated white sugar. Castor sugar will also work.
• Vanilla: We usually use a vanilla bean as detailed in this recipe; however, you can substitute vanilla extract; or better yet, vanilla bean paste.

Equipment You'll Need

To make creme brulee at home, you will probably want to use a culinary torch. But is it worth it? We think so!

A kitchen torch is a useful, versatile tool, and quite handy for many things besides melting sugar on top of custard. You can use a torch to brown to top of casseroles and meringues, roast peppers and tomatoes, finish French onion soup, and even toast marshmallows!

Step-by-Step: How to Make Classic Crème Brûlée

Preheat oven to 310°F (155°C).

1. Prepare the Vanilla Cream

In a small saucepan, whisk (almost) constantly and bring cream to barely a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from heat immediately when you begin to see bubbles forming around the sides of the pan.

Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds.

Whisk the vanilla bean seeds and vanilla shell to the warm cream. Let vanilla beans stand in cream for 30 minutes.

2. Make the Custard

Bring a teakettle or large saucepan of water to a boil.

Combine egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat until pale yellow and thick. Pour the vanilla and cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk thoroughly to combine.

Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and strain the custard mixture. (I do this twice.)

Blend strained mixture with a whisk one more time. (There will still be tiny vanilla seeds in the mixture. They are supposed to be there.)

3. Bake in a Water Bath

Place a paper towel on the bottom of a large baking pan. This keeps the ramekins from slipping. The pan needs to be large enough to hold four 6-ounce ramekins.

Set the ramekins on the paper towel. Fill each ramekin with equal amounts of the custard mixture.

Carefully place the pan on the oven rack, and then pour about one inch of very hot tap water into the pan around the ramekins. The water should come about halfway up sides of the ramekins, but no more. Avoid splashing or sloshing water into the custard mixture at all costs.

Bake 25-35 minutes, depending on the depth of your ramekins. Custards should appear set around the edges but slightly loose in the center.

Turn off the oven, crack open the oven door, and allow custard to cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

4. Chill

Transfer ramekins to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to chill completely.

5. Caramelize the Sugar (Torch the Top!)

When custards are completely cool, sprinkle the top evenly with granulated sugar.

In my experience, distributing the sugar one thin layer at a time will yield better results than putting it all on at once.

Sprinkle a small amount of sugar on the top. It will stick to the moisture in the custard. Carefully shake off any excess sugar so there is just a thin layer on top.

Using a kitchen torch, carefully brown the top to caramelize the sugar. Keep the torch constantly moving to avoid scorching or burning sugar.

Add a second layer of sugar, shake off the excess, and caramelize with the torch.

Repeat with additional layers of sugar until you achieve the results you want.

Serve immediately.

Tips for Perfect Crème Brûlée

• Use the right ramekins - Shallow for even baking.
• Strain custard - For silky texture; tiny vanilla specks are fine.
• Temper eggs carefully - Pour cream slowly to avoid curdling.
• Chill fully before torching - Prevents sugar melting into custard.
• Torch sugar in thin layers - Steady motion, repeat if needed.
• Optional flavor tweaks - Citrus zest, espresso, or liqueur (lightly).

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Problem	Cause	Quick Fix
Custard is grainy or curdy	Eggs scrambled; cream too hot	Temper eggs by adding warm cream slowly while whisking; strain custard before baking
Custard won’t set	Ramekins too deep, baking time too short, or water bath too shallow	Use shallow ramekins, bake until edges set, ensure water bath comes halfway up sides
Sugar top won’t caramelize	Custard not chilled, sugar layer too thick	Chill custard at least 2 hours; sprinkle thin, even sugar layers; torch steadily
Sugar crust melts too quickly	Custard still warm, uneven sugar	Fully chill custard; apply thin sugar layers; shake off excess before torching
Custard cracks or overcooks	Oven too hot, no water bath	Bake at 310°F (155°C) in a water bath; cool gently before removing ramekins
Caramelized sugar burns	Torch held in one spot, sugar layer too thick	Keep torch moving; apply multiple thin sugar layers
Vanilla flavor too weak	Vanilla extract added too early or beans not steeped enough	Steep vanilla beans 30+ min; add extract after heating cream
Crust soggy after storage	Sugar added too early, custard not chilled	Store custard chilled; sprinkle sugar and torch just before serving

💡 Pro Tip: Gentle handling, full chilling, and thin sugar layers solve most problems.

Storage & Make-Ahead Tips

This crème brûlée recipe should be made at least 4 hours ahead of time, and can be baked up to two days ahead of time. If you make it ahead, do not torch it after it cools; just cover and refrigerate, then sugar and torch it right before serving. This will keep the top crisp.

FAQs About Crème Brûlée

How to Serve Crème Brûlée

Serve creme brûlée chilled, with a small dessert spoon. Traditionally, a firm crack of the spoon is used break the caramel crust, which makes a deliciously memorable sound.

• Optional garnishes: fresh berries, mint, or light powdered sugar. (We especially enjoy it with raspberries!)
• Pair with dessert wine, champagne, or coffee.
• Perfect for dinner parties, birthdays, romantic evenings, holidays, or celebrating small victories.

More Custard Recipes You'll Love

If you enjoy classic crème brûlée, you'll love these other custard-based desserts:

• Classic Flan - Smooth, caramel-topped custard that's perfect for any occasion.
• Fresh Peach Custard Tart - Buttery tart crust filled with silky custard and fresh, juicy peaches - a delightful summer dessert.
• Classic Cherry Clafoutis - Light, custardy French dessert baked with tart cherries, perfect as an elegant classic dessert.
• Easy Coconut Cream Pudding Shots - Creamy coconut custard in individual servings, an easy and fun custard dessert for parties or gatherings.
• Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream - Rich, creamy custard-based vanilla ice cream made from scratch, a classic dessert you'll love.

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