Creme Brulee is one of our favorite easy dessert recipes, that requires only 5 ingredients. This classic treat is a delight for the senses, with its crunchy burnt sugar top covering a silky vanilla custard.
We love to re-create our favorite restaurant desserts at home, such as Chocolate Souffle, Tiramisu, chocolate-dipped Eclairs, and of course this Creme Brulee recipe, which is the easiest of them all! Watch our video tutorial and you will be a pro in no time!
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Easy Vanilla Creme Brulee Recipe
Cream, eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla are all that’s needed to make the perfect homemade creme brulee. That simple combination of ingredients creates the most luxurious creamy custard, with a silky texture and rich vanilla flavor just like you’d find in a high-end restaurant. It’s one of our favorite homemade desserts.
The thought of making your own creme brulee may seem daunting at first, but it’s actually such a classic and easy dessert. You’ll love how simple this recipe is, with its sweet and velvety base tucked beneath a crunchy caramelized sugar topping.
Get ready to grab your spoon, crack through the burnt-sugar crust, and scoop up a generous amount of that creamy custard. There won’t be any words, only sound effects.
Creme Brulee Video
Watch Natasha make this silky and classic creme brulee with a crunchy torched sugar topping. P.S. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our Youtube Channel and click the bell icon so you can be the first to know when we post our next video.
What is Creme Brulee?
Crème Brûlée (pronounced “krem-broo-lay”) means “burnt cream” in French. It’s a classic dessert made from a creamy custard base topped with a layer of sugar. The sugar is then caramelized or “burnt” with a kitchen torch to create a hardened, crunchy top.
Vanilla is the traditional flavoring, but if you love Crème Brûlée, don’t miss our Espresso Creme Brulee and even Pumpkin Creme Brulee. You’ll have a favorite for every season!
Ingredients
Below is a quick overview of the 4 simple ingredients you’ll need to make the perfect creme brulee. Don’t forget to refer to the full ingredient details in the recipe card.
- Heavy Cream – Full-fat heavy cream will yield the creamiest custard.
- Egg Yolks – Egg yolks thicken the custard and add richness. You’ll need the yolks from 5 large eggs.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar is best, plus a pinch of fine sea salt to balance the sweet flavors. Don’t forget additional sugar for the caramelized topping.
- Salt – balances sweetness and makes the vanilla flavors shine. We didn’t always add salt but it’s even better!
- Vanilla – Natural vanilla flavor is a must. See below for more details on the types of vanilla we recommend.
What kind of Vanilla Should I use?
Vanilla creme brulee calls for the very best vanilla flavor: the real kind. Here are the options that work beautifully in homemade creme brulee:
- Vanilla Beans – These are long vanilla pods in their natural form. You’ll need to slice them in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds then add to the cream while bringing to a simmer.
- Pure Vanilla Extract – This is the liquid extract from the vanilla bean. Make sure to use real vanilla extract, and not the artificial kind. You will taste the difference!
- Vanilla Bean Paste – Vanilla paste is thicker than vanilla extract and often contains flecks from the bean seeds. You’ll find this in the baking aisle in most major grocery stores. This is what I used in the video – it’s easy and looks fabulous with those little vanilla flecks.
Pro Tip: When it comes to converting one vanilla flavoring to another, note that 1 vanilla bean is equal to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste.
How to Make Creme Brulee
Making vanilla creme brulee from scratch is a seamless, 5-step process:
- Warm the Cream – First, heat 2 cups of heavy cream in a saucepan. Stir the cream frequently until it almost reaches a simmer, then add vanilla extract and remove from heat.
- Combine – In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with sugar and salt. Slowly stream the hot cream into the eggs while continuously whisking, to temper the eggs so that they don’t scramble.
- Strain – Next, strain the custard mixture through a fine mesh sieve. This part is optional, but it does help to knock out any bubbles and potential egg bits and ensures the silkiest consistency.
- Fill – Divide the custard evenly between six ovenproof ramekins or custard cups. Carefully place the ramekins into a 13×9 casserole dish and add boiling hot water to the casserole dish, going halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Bake – Bake the creme brulee at 300˚F for 30-35 minutes. Finally, transfer the ramekins to a wire rack to cool, then cover and then refrigerate.
Pro Tip: Be mindful to not overbake creme brulee. The centers should be nearly set with a slight wiggle when you give the pan a jolt. Overbaking will result in a firm, more flan-like consistency versus the creamy custard that we’re looking for.
Caramelizing the Sugar Topping
Torching is by far our favorite way to caramelize sugar on creme brulee. A small, inexpensive handheld multi-purpose torch does the job. I picked up mine at Home Depot along with a can of butane, as the torches are refillable. Also, a flame-thrower torch borrowed from the garage will also work fine.
- Sprinkle sugar – and swirl over each chilled custard.
- Brulee or scorch the top – moving in a sweeping circular pattern until all the sugar has reached a deep amber color.
The technique can take some getting used to, but trust us, you’ll be a pro in no time. Be careful as the custard cups can get hot.
Can I Make Creme Brulee Without a Torch?
We have tested this under a broiler and we never had good results in the oven. The heating elements don’t give off uniform heat across the top resulting in burnt spots with sugar granules at the same time. If you don’t have a torch, save yourself some frustration and try these toppings instead:
- Raspberries – or use mixed fresh berries to pile onto your creme brulee and top with a mint leaf to add flavor and color.
- Citrus – top with orange or tangerine segments and citrus zest.
- Berry Sauce – try the homemade Strawberry Sauce, or berry sauce from our Panna Cotta and add the topping just before serving.
- Caramel – Just before serving, drizzle your creme brulee with Caramel Sauce.
- Shaved bittersweet chocolate also makes an easy substitute for the crackly sugar topping.
Common Questions
Vanilla creme brulee custard is rich and creamy, with a sweet custardy flavor. Meanwhile, the burnt-sugar topping adds a sweet and crunchy contrast.
Yes. If using larger ramekins, you’ll need to bake the creme brulee about 5 minutes longer, or until nearly set with some wobble in the middle. I suggest four 6-8 oz ramekins if you want to make them larger.
The custard for your creme brulee can be prepped up to 3 days in advance, making it a great party dessert. You’ll want to brulee the top just before serving. See below for more make-ahead tips.
Make-Ahead
Whether you’re preparing this dessert ahead for a party or just looking to get a headstart, here’s how to store your homemade creme brulee:
- To Refrigerate: The custard can be made 3 days in advance, covered, and refrigerated, however, you’ll want to wait until serving to add the sugar topping. Otherwise, the humidity of the refrigerator will soften the caramelized topping.
- Freezing: It’s also possible to freeze creme brulee. Prepare and bake the custard as directed, leaving off the sugar top. Once the ramekins have cooled, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge, then top them with sugar and torch them as usual before serving.
We hope you’re inspired to whip up some quick and easy creme brulee this week! It’s easily one of our favorite desserts to make whenever we entertain, as it’s effortlessly impressive.
More Romantic Desserts
Looking for more single-serving desserts that are perfect for parties, Valentine’s Day, or a romantic date night at home? Try these other individual treats that are sure to impress:
Easy Creme Brulee Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Creme Brulee:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for caramelizing
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste
Instructions
How to Make Creme Brulee:
- Preheat the oven to 300˚F. Pour heavy cream into a medium saucepan and set over medium heat, stirring frequently until steaming and almost at a simmer then add vanilla and remove from heat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 5 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt until blended. While whisking constantly, gradually drizzle in the hot cream. Start very slowly to avoid scrambling your eggs.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup with a pouring lip. Discard anything left in the sieve. Divide the mixture into 6 (4-oz) ramekins and place in a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Fill the baking dish with boiling water about halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake at 300˚F for 30-35 minutes, or until the centers are nearly set and have just a slight wiggle in the center. Carefully transfer ramekins from the water bath to a wire rack and cool to room temp then cover and refrigerate creme brulee until fully chilled (2 hours or up to 3 days).
To Caramelize the Top:
- When ready to serve, put 1 1/2 to 2 tsp sugar on each custard, swirling to spread evenly. Torch the top – moving in a circular pattern until the whole surface is caramelized to a deep amber color.
Easily the best crème brûlée I’ve ever had. It maintained a good firm texture over several days in the fridge and made and excellent top.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Quinn! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I’d never made crème brûlée before and I used this recipe and made it twice in a couple of weeks for guests and everyone loved if. I’m so glad I tried this recipe first. It’s the best and an absolute keeper! Next, I’d like to try adding some passion fruit puree…
Love the recipe, worked great! I’d love to see a coconut macaroons recipe to use up some of the leftover egg whites 🙂
I have a customer whos friend is going through Chemotherapy and is craving these. I will make individual servings. Can they be frozen?
Hi Sandi! I haven’t tried freezing it but based on my research, it can be.
For a fun twist replace cream with southern comfort vanilla spice eggnog
Thank you for that suggestion, Fish!
Hi! Love this recipe! It used to be possible to change the measurements to metric, but it’s not working now. I’ve tried different browsers and on my phone. Is it possible to make this function work again?
Hi Barbara, I just tried to change it on the recipe card and it worked well, it may be your browser? I recommend trying a new browser or restarting your device/ clearing your cache. I wish I could be more helpful from afar.
This was great, I definitely recommend anyone making this to get a sifter. The one that got the last of my cream/egg mixture had egg pieces in it. It’s not a bad thing just throws you off texture wise.
I really like how as long as you do it slowly you can temper the eggs and not have to let the cream cool. A lot of recipes I’ve seen have the person waiting for it to be room temp. This makes it a lot quicker to make than the other recipes. Appreciate the instructions. Made it great my first try!
BEST EVER! It was such a hit with family and friends
I would like to ask why my crime brûlée shrank around 35% on volume after the 45’ in the oven bath? How can I solve the substantial volume shrinking? And the temperature was 325 F degrees, what did I wrong?
Hi Andrea! Did you make any changes to the recipe or ratios of ingredients? The most common cause is overcooking. This could be due to the oven and even the type of ramekins used. Not all oven bake evenly. Are you using a conventional oven? If your using a convection/fan oven, it would bake faster and adjustments would be needed.
If you don’t already, I highly encourage the use of an internal oven thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) to ensure you’re oven temp is accurate. You may try lowering the temperature just a bit to ensure a more gentle cooking process. I hope that helps.
Probably a crazy question, but can I just use one of those lighters with a long handle instead of a torch?
I’m not sure that it would work well.
This my favorite dessert by far! Your recipes always work and are tasty. Strangely enough, when filling my ramekins, I had only enough for 5 -4oz. ramekins. I always use measure-by-weight everything mixed up per plan yet only five not six.
With tongue & cheek, could this be why you ‘didn’t want to talk about it’, meaning the 5 ramekins in your fridge? Haha. I will try interpolating the recipe to fill that sixth cup.
Anyway, I loved your dramatics. I use the small torch as the linoleum torch is bit of an overkill.
I think I will top the burnt sugar with blueberries – the favorite of my wife, who is also Ukrainian but coming to America only two years ago.
I wonder if you had larger size ramekins? It’s hard not to eat them and I couldn’t wait. ha!
I tried that. It leaves a butane odor that dilutes that scrumptious flavor. These torches are low cost, and the can of fuel lasts a long time. Maybe check Natasha’s notes for the link to buy one. Sure, she earns a small commission — but our lessons here are free. 🙂
It definitely did not work for me at all. Added sugar to all 3 ramekins and thought it wouldn’t be too big of a difference if it didn’t melt, but it was. It was inedible. 🙁
Hi! Great recipe, and I may have an alternative for the sugar crust!
I made creme brulle with my friend before, and since we didn’t have a torch, we followed a recipe that says the melt some sugar in a pan until it is a dark gold color amd add a bit of water. Then you should pour the melted sugar on top of the creme brulee and let it harden. It creates a lovely golden crust for your creme brulee that is just as fun to Crack open!
I hope that this helps anyone looking for a crust alternative!
Oh that’s a great suggestion! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
300 degrees for 30-35 minutes is not nearly long enough for it to set. It needs to be 325 for 30-40 minutes.
Hi, it can depend on how hot your water is that you pour in, and also if your oven was fully preheated. Not all ovens are created equal. When I put an oven thermometer in my oven, I found out that it was 25 degrees under when it said it was preheated so I have to let it preheat for longer.
So pleased with how this turned out! It was simpler to make and tasted like it was much harder to prepare than it actually was. Thank your for a very well-written recipe and all the tips.
I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you.
The recipe looks like it would be easy to cut in half, except for the egg. Any suggestions?
Hi Teri, if you need to halve an egg, You can crack the egg into a bowl and beat it lightly with a fork to combine the yolk and white. Then, measure out roughly half of the beaten egg by volume using a tablespoon or measuring cup. If the recipe calls for 1 egg, you can use approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of the beaten egg. I hope that helps.
what happens if you add the egg yolk mixture into the warm pot with the milk instead of cream into eggs? i did it that way accidentally and it tasted great, but also the same so not sure if i missed something. there were literally zero solidified egg pieces when i strained which surprised me
Hi Russell! That’s great that it turned out for you. In my experience it can cook the egg yolks
if doing it that way so this has been the most efficient and recommended way to do it.
A great recipe. A smooth and creamy custard with just the right amount of vanilla.
I used 250ml wide-mouth mason jars and a glass pan for the water bath. 35min cook time was not nearly enough to set. So checking every 10min, it needed 30 min more in the oven. Total cook time was 1 hour to set with a wobble at the center. For the brûlée, I used turbano sugar and it caramelized easily.
This recipe is perfection!
Thank you.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, RG!
Simply wonderful!
This is my third time making it. I followed the recipe completely the first time. Then I added a heaping teaspoon of espresso powder. I put half of the sugar.
It is amazingly simple to make and quite wonderful!!
Thank you for this recipe!!
please provide the vanilla creme brulee recipe online in a printable format. following recipe on computer in kitchen while cooking is not appreciated, nor is writing the recipe while the video is running.
HI Janis, if you scroll down to the recipe card, that is a print-friendly version that prints on a page or two usually. I hope that helps! There’s also a button at the top that takes you to that recipe card.
I had no problem following this wonderful recipe on my computer. Printing is a waste of trees
Hi Natasha I don’t have any ramekins,can I use a 8×8 glass dish or any other size dish instead?
I haven’t tested it with a 8×8 glass dish yet to advise
Hi Natasha! If I wanted to half this recipe for two 6-ounce ramekins instead, how many egg yolks should be used?
Hi Babs, if you need to halve an egg, You can crack the egg into a bowl and beat it lightly with a fork to combine the yolk and white. Then, measure out roughly half of the beaten egg by volume using a tablespoon or measuring cup. If the recipe calls for 1 egg, you can use approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of the beaten egg. I hope that helps.
Awesome, thank you for this! Could we also substitute the heavy cream with milk instead?
Hi Babs, milk won’t thicken to the desired consistency as whipping cream will.