Hard candy top with a silky creamy interior, Ina Garten Creme Brulee is still a beloved classic and the Barefoot Contessa makes it easy for us to recreate!
When my eldest was a baby, I spent a lot of time nursing and burping him while watching the Food Channel. I quickly found my favorite chefs and learned how to cook from the comfort of my couch.
As the kids got older, I got more adventurous in the kitchen. And one chef who helped me do this is Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. There are just some chefs that get it right every time, and Ina Garten is one of them.
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Why this recipe is so awesome
Creme brulee is a French dessert. It’s actually spelled Crème Brûlée, with all the accents. But here in the US, we tend to drop those pesky accents and just spell it without them.
It is a rich dessert made with eggs, heavy cream and sugar. The custard base is flavored with vanilla and baked in individually sized ramekins. Each ramekin of creme brulee is topped with a hardened caramelized sugar.
I suppose Ina Garten’s appeal to the public is that she is a self-taught cook and not a classically trained chef. So if Ina can master the infamous creme brulee, so can anyone, including me.
And you know what? It really isn’t that difficult to make!
Reader’s Reviews
“First time making this. Super easy & tasted wonderful!” Christie via pinterest.
Ingredients you need
- Eggs: Creme brulee is a custard and it requires eggs and additional egg yolks.
- Granulated sugar: Regular sugar is used to sweeten the custard, as well as create the candy shell top of the creme brulee.
- Heavy cream: You need the full fat heavy whipping cream for this recipe.
- Vanilla extract: You can use extract or scrape out a vanilla bean.
- Grand Marnier: This is optional, but Ina Garten adds some liqueur to her recipe.
Step-by-step directions
- Combine eggs. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or hand mixer, combine eggs and sugar on low speed until combined.
- Scald the cream. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until very hot to touch, but not boiling (to prevent curdling). The key to not curdling the heavy cream is watch over it while you heat it up.
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You bring the cream right up and before it starts to boil. You have lots of visual cues to help you in this stage, lots of steam and the beginning of small bubbles at the rim of the cream.
- Temper eggs. Once the heavy cream is scalding hot, you add the egg and sugar mixture. To insure that the eggs don’t curdle from touching the hot cream, you need to temper them. Pour a tiny bit of hot cream and whisk it into the egg mixture. This helps heat the eggs up slowly.
- Pour into ramekins. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the hot cream to the egg mixture. Mix in vanilla and Grand Marnier. Pour into 6 8-ounce ramekins until almost full.
- Place in water bath. Place ramekins in a large roasting pan and add enough hot water to pan to come halfway up the sides of ramekins.
- Bake. Bake until custards are just set in center then remove from roasting pan and allow to cool to room temperature. Chill custards until firm, about 1 hour.
- Top with sugar. When ready to serve, sprinkle remaining sugar over each custard in each ramekin.
- Torch sugar. Using a kitchen torch, melt sugar until deep amber. You can bring the torch closer to the sugar if it isn’t melting or browning, but be sure not to hold it too close or your might burn the sugar and blacken it. You want the surface to be golden brown and amber.
If you do not have a kitchen torch you can also brown the sugar using your oven broiler. Simply place the ramekins on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for a few minutes. Again, keep an eye on the creme brulee and make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove the ramekins when the topping is browned and golden.
- Chill. Refrigerate 15 minutes to allow sugar to harden. They can be made 1 hour ahead. Keep chilled.
Recipe tips and FAQs
Creme Brulee can appear to be very intimidating, but I found it to be extremely easy to make. Scalding the cream means you have to watch it and not walk away, because you don’t want it to boil and curdle.
I found the hardest part of making this dish was to keep the water from the roasting pan from dripping into my full ramekins as I was placing it in the oven! I think next time I will place the water filled pan in the oven first and then place the ramekins directly in afterwards.
Love Ina’s recipes like I do? Here are some of my favorite Barefoot Contessa recipes:
- Ina Garten Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
- Ina Garten Oatmeal Cookies with Raisin and Pecans
- Ina Garten Baked Shrimp Scampi
- Ina Garten Grilled Shrimp Kabob
- Ina Garten Chicken Caesar Club Sandwich
- Ina Garten Shrimp Bisque
- Ina Garten Coconut Jam Thumbprint Cookies
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Cover any leftovers with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: You can freeze creme brulée, but its texture will change when thawed.
Creme brulee is a magnificent and elegant dessert on its own and does not require much more fuss upon serving. I like to top creme brulee with fresh berries that are in season. It adds a pop of color and the tart berries make a nice contrast with the sweet custard.
Creme brulee, is famous for its hardened caramelized sugar topping. This step is added right before serving. So if you are serving this dessert at a dinner party, you can bake and chill the dessert a few days before the event. With all of the sugar choices out there, the best sugar to use make the caramelized top of your creme brulee is regular ‘ole granulated sugar. Sprinkle a generous amount over the top of each ramekin then use a kitchen torch to gently heat it up to melt and brown.
If you do not have a kitchen torch you can also brown the sugar for your creme brulee top by using your oven broiler. Simply place the sugar covered ramekins on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the creme brulee and make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove the ramekins when the topping is browned and golden.
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Ina Garten Creme Brulee
Ingredients
- 1 extra large egg
- 4 extra large egg yolks
- ½ cup plus 1 TBS granulated sugar
- 3 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300ºF.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix eggs and ½ cup sugar on low speed until combined.
- Scald heavy cream in a small saucepan until very hot to touch, but not boiling (to prevent curdling).
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the hot cream to the egg mixture.
- Mix in vanilla and Grand Marnier.
- Pour into six 8-ounce ramekins until almost full.
- Place ramekins in a large roasting pan and add enough hot water to pan to come halfway up the sides of ramekins.
- Bake until custards are just set in center, about 35-40 minutes.
- Remove custards from roasting pan and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Chill custards until firm, about 1 hour.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle remaining sugar over each custard in each ramekin.
- Using a kitchen torch, melt sugar until deep amber. You can also use the broiler. Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with sugar and melt directly under broiler until deep amber.
- Refrigerate 15 minutes to allow sugar to harden. They can be made 1 hour ahead. Keep chilled.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
I really did not like the Grand Marnier in an otherwise perfect recipe. It was only a T so i was rather surprised at how prominent the taste was. I love Ina’s recipes and I rarely have any criticism.
Hi Sally-
I’m sorry you didn’t care for the Grand Marnier flavor. At least next time you can omit it easily enough. It is silky smooth creme brulee!
Laura
Will it still work well without the Grand Marnier?
I have not tried this without the Grand Marnier, but considering it is only 1-tablespoon, I don’t see anything wrong with omitting it.
I love the idea of adding Grand Marnier to it–like a grown up, super elegant creamsicle!
Who said adulting has to taste bad?!