Caffe Mocha Creme Brulee Recipe | The Best Chocolate Creme Brulee (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of crème brûlée? ›

Chill custard overnight.

To get the smoothest, most gorgeous crème brûlée, cover the bowl and chill overnight. If you don't have the time, you can continue with the baking, but you'll get the silkiest custards by chilling the mix for at least a few hours.

Add the cream to the eggs slowly while whisking so the eggs get tempered and don't scramble. Whisk gently and don't overmix! You don't want to whisk aggressively as that will add lots of little air bubbles and the texture won't be as creamy. You just need to whisk enough to get a hom*ogenous mixture.

For the caramelized sugar crust, we recommend turbinado or Demerara sugar. Regular granulated sugar will work, too, but use only 1 scant teaspoon on each ramekin or 1 teaspoon on each shallow fluted dish.

Sprinkle the Demerara sugar evenly on top of the creme brulee. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sugar melts completely and most of it caramelizes, rotating the pan occasionally to even the browning. Cool on a wire rack for 1 minute to allow the sugar to harden, then serve immediately.

Underbaking: Creme brulee is perfectly baked when it is set and firm around the edges but still has a wobble or jiggle in the middle when shaken [1]. If your creme brulee is not setting, it may be because you didn't bake it for long enough. Make sure to follow the recommended baking time and temperature in your recipe.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

I will say the trickiest part of making a creme brûlée is deciding when to pull it from the oven. It is ready when the middle jiggles, but the edges are set, like in my video. If the whole thing is still super jiggly, it needs more time, check every 10 minutes after. If the none if it jiggles, it is overcooked.

If there's too much sugar, the crust will start to burn before it melts evenly. Too little, and it will just melt into the custard. Brûléeing the sugar in two steps leads to a more uniform melting of the sugar granules and a nice even caramel color.

If you have a mixture resembling sweet scrambled eggs then the eggs in the creme brulee are curdling and this happens because they become over heated.

Why do you scald cream for creme brulee? ›

Scalding the cream serves two primary purposes in crème brûlée preparation. It helps infuse the cream with the flavors of any added vanilla beans or extracts and ensures that the cream blends smoothly with the egg yolks, creating the velvety custard texture that crème brûlée is known for.

If your creme brulee comes out runny, I'm sorry to say but it's most likely because it's undercooked. You want to pull the custards from the oven when they're set around the edges, but still just a little bit wobbly towards the centers.

Bake in the center of the oven

Another great tip for even baking is to bake the custards in the center of the oven. This allows for even heating from the top and bottom of the oven. If the ramekins are too close to the top of the oven, the tops will brown and caramelize and the bottoms may not bake properly.

Crème brûlée is an easy dessert served in individual ramekins with a rich custard base made out of eggs, sugar, heavy cream and vanilla. The topping is made out of a thin layer of granulated sugar which is caramelized with a torch to create textually contrasting hard candy-like shell.

Scalding the cream serves two primary purposes in crème brûlée preparation. It helps infuse the cream with the flavors of any added vanilla beans or extracts and ensures that the cream blends smoothly with the egg yolks, creating the velvety custard texture that crème brûlée is known for.

Undercooked: It's possible that you didn't bake it long enough. Crème brûlée should be set around the edges but still slightly wobbly in the center when you take it out. It will continue to set as it cools. Too much liquid: Make sure you're using the right proportion of cream to egg yolks.

The hardest part about making Creme Brulee is waiting for the custard to set in the fridge and being fearless with the mini blow torch. Yes, you have to make Creme Brulee ahead of time, but I love a dessert that bakes the day before.