Crème Brûlée For Two

Name: Crème Brûlée For Two
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup whipping cream; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 3 egg yolks; 2 tbsp castor sugar; Pinch of salt; 1 tbsp brandy; 2 tbsp castor sugar; Fresh raspberries

Classic vanilla crème brûlée that is a single serve portion which you can feed 2 mouths with. The perfect dessert recipe to make at home and all you need is 5 ingredients!

Baked egg custards and I have a long standing love relationship with each other. They can be a little temperamental but they result the most delicious and elegant dessert recipe you can make. Add a small batch to this and you’ve got a winning recipe. The recipe itself needs 5 ingredients that you most likely will already have in your kitchen. Further, you can make it the day ahead, brûlée it the next day and serve.

When I was thinking of fun and easy dessert recipes to make for Valentines day, crème brûlée was not my first choice, it seems like a lot of effort, not to mention sounds very fancy and seems to be very technical for someone who might not be an everyday baker. This got me thinking, there must be an easy way to prepare and make this recipe easily without the fuss and keep it small enough for 2 to share. It is romantic and also very beautiful to serve at the end of a meal.

So, you can totally impress someone else with this recipe but you could also merely impress yourself and enjoy it on your own instead. This recipe does serve a little more than 2 but I think 1 serving is 2 portions so this feeds more like 3 making a little more for each of you to enjoy, it is so creamy, rich and light that you don’t want to stop eating it. This recipe post will walk you through all the necessary information you need to make this dessert. There are a lot of FAQ’s about it and we will go through them, I will also share my pro tips at the end which you must keep in mind before making this crème brûlée.

What is crème brûlée made of?

Very simply, crème brûlée is made of heavy cream, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and a little salt. I added a little brandy into the recipe but that is optional.

Is this a single serve recipe?

Yes, this is a small batch recipe serving 2 portions. However it can feed 3 portions as well. Single serve/small batch recipes are those which use up fewer ingredients and take lesser amount of time to prepare as they are smaller in size. This recipe can be made in a single dish or portioned into 2 separate ramekins.

Where is crème brûlée from? Is crème brûlée from Italy?

This is going to cause a little controversy, the recipe is said to have been created in France however there are traces of a baked burned custard in England and Spain. They might be identified as trinity cream, burnt cream or crema Catalina/catalana. All of them are egg custards that are baked and steamed until just set, chilled and topped with sugar to brûlée for the caramelized top.

Is crème brûlée served hot or cold?

Crème brûlée is one of those recipes that are baked and served cold, top might be warm/hot with the burnt sugar but the bottom will be cold/chilled.

Is crème brûlée basically a custard?

crème brûlée IS a custard. But it is a baked custard. There are 3 types of custard, baked, steamed and stirred. crème brûlée is a baked custard in a Bain Marie/water bath to create gentle heat allow the egg yolks to help set the custard without splitting. A steamed custard doesn’t need the oven it can be steamed over the stove with a little water and a lid. A stirred custard is crème anglaise or crème patisserie which is made over the stove with a wooden spoon or whisk. They are considered as sauces and fillings for desserts, cakes, pies and other sweet confectionery.

What is crème brûlée famous for?

crème brûlée is famous for the creamy rich custard at the bottom with a hard caramel top that has a cracking sound when eaten. The custard is cold while the caramel is mostly a little warm.

Why is it called crème brûlée?

Crème brûlée translates to “burnt cream” in English from French. Essentially it is baking the cream custard and then burning the sugar on top to create a caramel crust.

Whats the difference between crème brûlée and custard?

Custard is a rich dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, heavy cream, vanilla – it is baked in a water bath in the oven until just set. It could have a caramel sauce at the bottom of the custard so when you over turn it the caramel turns into a sauce. Crème brûlée has a similar preparation process the only difference is the sugar is sprinkled on the top once baked and torched/brûléed until caramelized and top has a crunchy crust.

Can I bake/steam this crème brûlée over the stove?

You can steam this this custard over the stove in steamer or in a large stock pot, fitted with a wire rack at the bottom and filled with a little water, place the dish filled with custard into the pot, cover the dish with cling film/foil, pierce with a knife (to allow the steam to escape) and steam for 15-20 minutes until the custard is set and has a jiggle with you shake the bow.

How to make crispy crème brûlée? Do I need a blow torch to brûlée the custard?

The sugar needs to be torched well enough to melt and caramelize it. This can be done with a blow torch, however if you don’t have a blow torch you can do this in the oven with top grill/broiler after baking to caramelize only the sugar and not cook the custard any further. I like to let the custard chill in the fridge for 1 – 2 hours before torching.

Why is my crème brûlée not browning?

The top needs very high heavy to get that brûlée. This will only happen with a blow torch or a grill/broiler on high heat – the sugar needs to melt and then it will caramelize. If the heat is not hot enough, the sugar will take longer to melt and caramelize but this might risk the custard getting over cooked, which is why I like to chill it before torching so the temperature doesn’t increase immediately.

What ingredients do you need to make this crème brûlée recipe?

To make this crème brûlée recipe we need egg yolks, castor sugar, vanilla extract, heavy cream, salt and brandy. We do need a little extra sugar for the top to brûlée it. You can add a bunch of flavorings like cinnamon, almond extract, orange zest and a little lemon zest. I have also made this recipe with a little lime zest, rose water and orange blossom water – very middle eastern vibes but delicious.

What equipment do you need to make this crème brûlée recipe?

To mix the custard we need a bowl, whisk, sauce pot and strainer. I like to bake the custard in a 6×4 inch rectangle tin which is perfect to share once baked. The custard mixture comes up half way when poured into the dish. Keep in mind the size of the dish will affect the cooking time. The larger the dish the lesser the baking time, the smaller the dish the longer the baking time. This dish is placed in a large tray filled with hot water and baked in the oven.

How to make this crème brûlée for two recipe?

Preheat the oven to 150℃ and switch on the kettle to make water hot. In a sauce pot add the heavy cream and vanilla, bring the mixture to a gentle boil. In a bowl add the egg yolks, sugar and whisk until smooth. Pour the hot heavy cream mixture into the egg mixture, slowly, whisking constantly. Add the salt and brandy and whisk again. Pour through a strainer into a 6×4 inch baking dish. Place this dish in a larger baking tray. Pour hot water into the larger baking tray, half way up. Bake the custard for 30 minutes or so – the time will vary depending on the size of the dish used to bake the custard. When you take it out of the oven, the custard should have a wobble/jiggle in the center. Let it chill in the fridge for 2 hours, then sprinkle the top with sugar and torch it using a blow torch or palm under a hot broiler in the oven on the top rack for a couple of minutes until brûléed. Repeat this process once again for a a thicker caramel crust on the top. Serve it immediately with fresh raspberries or on its own.

Serving and storing this crème brûlée recipe:

Once this crème brûlée is baked, I suggest to chill it for a minimum of 2 hours. We want to reduce the temperature of the custard as soon as it is done to avoid over cooking in the residual heat of the dish. Only then I top it with sugar and torch it for that caramelized crunch. I like serving this dessert chilled with a little sea salt flakes and fresh raspberries. You can serve it as it is as well. If you have leftovers (it is a small batch recipe which means the chance of leftovers as slim) cover the dish with cling film/foil and store in the fridge for a day. Keep in mind the brûlée will not be crunch once chilled as the sugar will dissolve and become a sauce like consistency. Hence I would suggest NOT storing it and consuming immediately.

Alternatively, if you are baking them separate dishes you can only brûlée the one you wan tot eat and store the other one covered in the fridge for 2 days, when ready to eat, sprinkle with sugar, torch the top and serve. A great MAKE AHEAD option is to bake these and store them in the fridge for 2 days until ready to torch and brûlée.

Pro tips to make the PERFECT crème brûlée at home:

Do not over mix the egg mixture as we are not trying to add air into the custard.
Heat the cream with the vanilla before slowly adding it to the egg yolk mixture.
Pour the custard through a strainer to ensure the mixture is smooth and lump free.
Preheat the oven before baking.
Bake the custard in a water bath filled with hot water – be careful not to add hot water into the custard dish)
Do not over bake the custard, it must have a jiggle when you take it out of the oven.
Let the custard cool for 2 hours before brûléeing.
Sprinkle over 2 layers of sugar evenly for the torching and serve it immediately.

Looking for more single serve valentines day desserts?

Now that we have covered how to make this Crème Brûlée for two, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.