Easy No-Bake Crème Brûlée

By vealam

Ingredients

• 1 cup (237 ml) heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup (115 ml) whole milk
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Granulated sugar, for bruleeing

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from completelydelicious.com

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, milk and sugar. Use a sharp knife to scrape the vanilla beans from the pod. Add both the scraped beans and pod to the saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Heat just until bubbles appear at the edges and mixture is steaming (do not bring to a boil). Remove vanilla bean.
Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add the hot cream mixture in a slow steady stream while whisking constantly.
Pour mixture back into the saucepan and return to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a spatula to scrap the bottom, until mixture is thickened. This will take 3-5 minutes. Once thickened, cook for an additional 1 minute, while continuing to stir.
Remove from heat and pass custard through a mesh strainer to remove any lumps. Spoon into individual ramekins. Place in the fridge, uncovered, to set up for at least 2 hours.
When ready to serve, sprinkle ramekins generously with granulated sugar. Working with one at a time, pass a kitchen torch over the surface until sugar melts and caramelizes. Serve immediately.

Note: You may substitute 1 tablespoon vanilla extract for the vanilla bean. After the custard has thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla before passing through a mesh strainer.

How to brûlée:

You can use either a kitchen torch or your oven broiler to caramelize, but the kitchen torch will produce the best results.

Kitchen Torch— Cover the surface of the chilled custard generously with granulated sugar. Pass a kitchen torch back and forth over the sugar until it melts and caramelizes.

Broiler— Place the oven rack on the highest setting. Put the ramekins directly under the broiler and set it in the “high setting”. Wait for the sugar to melt and caramelize, rotating the ramekins as necessary for even browning. This can take up to 5 minutes.