Tony Zentgraf
Creme Brulee, the creamy baked custard with a fire caramelized sugar crust on top is a classic French dessert. I am not one who generally craves sweets but this one is up there on my list of favorite desserts.
Don’t let this recipe intimidate you, it does require baking in a water bath and tempering eggs but watch the video below, it really isn’t that difficult to make.
Plan ahead to let the custard chill sufficiently at least 4 hours but overnight would be ideal. Coat the top in sugar and caramelize with a torch, melt the sugar and apply another coat or two to get the nice crack when you break it with a spoon.
The age old question Creme Brulee, Crema Catalana or Cambridge Burnt Cream, which came first?
Most of you are asking yourselves, has he lost his mind? What is he talking about? To answer your questions – probably, to the first one.
The second one, well, Creme Brulee is a Classic French recipe that most of the world relates to for this particular dessert. But Spain has a dessert called Crema Catalana and the UK’s version is called Cambridge Burnt Cream or Trinity Cream.
So lets, clear up the question, which came first?
Crema Catalana – Spain
Crema Catalana dates back to the 13th century when it was made by nuns, making it the oldest documented recipe of the three custards. But where the Crema Catalana may be the first, the ingredients and the process vary from the classic French dessert.
Crema Catalana is made from milk not cream and is usually flavored with lemon, orange and cinnamon plus has the addition of cornstarch (or Corn Flour as it is called in Europe).
Where Creme Brulee is baked in a water bath, the Crema Catalana is make in a pot on the stovetop. The custard is then poured into ramekins and left to chill overnight. The next day, the chilled custard is sprinkled with sugar and caramelized with a torch.
Cambridge Burnt Cream or Trinity Cream – England
Cambridge Burnt Cream, UK’s entry into the race of which came first, was documented during the 15th century with used the rich spring cream from cows. The recipes surrounding the UK custard are more similar to the French version but may include milk and cream and but both are flavored with vanilla.
The dessert is also known as Trinity Cream, Trinity College in Cambridge has documented during the late 1800s as being the first to caramelize the top of the baked custard.
They would use a circular iron that was heated over fire then pressed into the sugar, caramelizing the sugar and imprinting the Trinity College logo into the finished caramel top. Similar to the brulee iron featured here.
Creme Brulee – France
French Chef Francois Massialot’s cookbook Cuisinier royal et bourgeois , from 1691, has a written recipe for Creme Brulee but he called it Creme al’Anglese (English cream).
His version of the recipe did not brulee the sugar on top but would place a disc of caramelized sugar on top of the baked custard. The traditional French recipe is similar to the one I used for this recipe.
Depending on where you look on the internet, you will see debate between the UK history and the French history of which came first between the two. But it is clear that the Spanish Crema Catalana was the first by a few hundred centuries.
Maybe they can lay claim to the baked custard we would call Creme Brulee as a general term because of the history of Flan.
I haven’t brought Flan, another baked custard, into the battle of baked custards because technically the caramel is not burnt on top but rather baked in the bottom of the ramekin or baking dish and flipped over to expose a custard with caramel flowing over the top onto the plate.
Late Entry into the Debate – Romans?
Flan has history back to Roman times when they would make sweet custards with excess eggs. Looks like Romand are the winner for who can claim baked custards farthest back in history.
Spain kept the flan as part of their culture and over time introduced flavorings from the Moors which lead to the creation of Crema Catalana.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that the history of Creme Brulee was hotly debated when it became a popular dessert on restaurant menus across the U.S.
Creme Brulee may have a long standing history, but this recipe for classic French Creme Brulee is easy to make and is delicious.
Enjoy!
Vanilla Creme Brulee (GF) (V)
Print RecipeEquipment
- 5 6oz Ramekins
- 1 Mesh Strainer
- 1 Ladel
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Small Pot
- 1 Scale
- 1 Whisk
Recipe Multiplier
- 20 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
- 6 ea Egg Yolks
- 3 oz Granulated Sugar
- 2 ea Vanilla Beans
Instructions
Making the Custard
- Separate the 6 egg yolks from the whites and keep separate. (Reserve the whites for another use, they freeze well. Be sure to write on the container how many egg whites are in the container for future reference.)
- Scale the sugar and hold aside in a separate bowl from the yolks. If egg yolks and sugar are mixed together and let sit for an extended time the eggs and sugar become hardened. I usually wait to mix together until I am ready to proceed.
- Cut the vanilla beans and scrape the beans from the pods. Reference the video below to see how to remove the beans from the pods.
- Heat the cream in a pot over medium heat. Add the vanilla beans to the cream and add the pods to the cream. This will bring out the oils in the vanilla bean pods when it heats up.
- Once the cream and vanilla beans begin to come to a boil remove from the heat.
- Mix the egg yolks and sugar.
- Using a separate bowl, add a small amount of egg yolk and sugar mix. Begin the tempering process by adding a small amount of cream to the egg and sugar mix that was removed to the separate bowl. Slowly drizzle in the cream while mixing to avoid scrambling the eggs. Mix to combine.
- Continue this process of adding more egg mix to the tempering bowl and continue to mix adding more cream slowly to continue to bring up the temperature of the tempering bowl eggs.
- Once you have added about half of the egg mix to the tempering bowl incorporate the tempering bowl ingredients into the original egg and sugar mixture. Slowly incorporating to avoid scrambling the eggs.
- While mixing, drizzle in the remaining cream and vanilla beans into the bowl. Remove the vanilla bean pods and discard.
- Strain the custard mix to remove any egg that may have scrambled during the tempering process. (Use a strainer that will allow the vanilla beans to pass through)
Baking the Custard
- Portion the custard mix into 5 ramekins. 6 ounces in each. In the video, I used 10 oz ramekins. If you use a 6-8 oz ramekin the cooking time may increase because the volume is deeper than in the 10 oz ramekins.
- Place the ramekins in a roasting pan that will allow the water bath to come halfway up the ramekins.
- Bake in the oven between 300°-325° for 30 minutes. Check the custard mix at 30 minutes to determine if it needs to bake longer.
- The custard should have a uniform jiggle, the middle 1-2" should have more movement than the exterior. If there is additional baking time add extra time in 2 minute increments to avoid over baking.
- Remove from the oven and water bath to slow the cooking process.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 4-24 hours. The custard mix should be fully chilled before bruleeing the sugar on top.
Bruleeing the Sugar
- Sprinkle granulated sugar on top of the baked custard.
- Using a brulee torch, begin passing the flame over the sugar in circular motion. You can hold the ramekin and turn it as the video demonstrates. But you can leave on the counter and torch the sugar.
- Once the sugar begins to caramelize, add a second sprinkle of sugar and repeat the torching process. You can add a third layer of sugar if you would like.
- The caramelized sugar should ideally cover the entire surface area of the baked custard.
- Serve with fresh berries. Enjoy!
This recipe is creamy and delicious!
THIS was one of the most amazing desserts I have ever been fortunate enough to eat. I was floating on clouds after devouring this..Where does somone buy vanilla beans? Where do I get a torch. Thanks Chef Tony!
Great to hear you enjoyed the Creme Brulee, it is one of my favorites.
Vanilla Beans can be found in most grocery stores in the spice aisle. Have seen at Grocery Outlet and Cost Plus as well.
A brulee torch may be found at The Pot Rack in Jacksonville and at the The Kitchen Company in Grants Pass.
They are sold on Amazon as well.