Homemade Eggnog Creme Brûlée

Name: Eggnog Creme Brûlée
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 2 cups Eggnog; 2 cups Heavy Cream; 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar; 6 Egg Yolks (room temperature); 1/2 Vanilla Bean (scraped ); 4 cups Hot Water

by BusyB | Dec 9, 2017 | Recipes

Eggnog Creme Brûlée - Combine Cream and Eggs

Eggnog Creme Brûlée - Pour into Ramekins

Printable Recipe (click to expand)

Eggnog Creme Brûlée

A festive twist on a classic desert.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1 10

Servings: 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

2 cups Eggnog
2 cups Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
6 Egg Yolks room temperature
1/2 Vanilla Bean scraped
4 cups Hot Water

Method

Pre-Heat oven 350ºF.
In medium sauce pan combine eggnog and cream. Slice vanilla bean in half and scoop out seeds with a spoon and mix in with cream.
Heat dairy and vanilla on medium heat stirring constantly making sure to scrape the bottom.
Bring dairy to a boil then immediately remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl whisk egg yolk and sugar together, then gradually whisk in warm dairy.
Once liquid into ramekins and transfer to a large casserole dish or cake pan, then add enough water so that it covers 1/2 way up the side of the ramekins.
Transfer to oven and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cream has set but the center still trembles.
Remove from oven let cool for about 10 minutes then refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.
Remove from fridge about 10-20 minutes before service and generously sprinkle with a generous amount of sugar (about 1/2 a cup for 6 creme brûlées), then melt sugar with a culinary torch until it is nice and crispy.
Let cool for about 5 minutes then serve.

Notes

Place the remaining half of the vanilla bean in a cup of sugar, then use vanilla infused sugar to top creme brûlées.

Adapted from Alton Brown's Creme Brûlée

Eggnog Creme Brûlée - Warm your Cream and Eggnog

Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!

Earlier this week I shared my Eggnog Hot Chocolate recipe that I came up with while trying to figure out what to do with the absurd amount of eggnog I had on my hands. So today I wanted to share another eggnog creation, Eggnog Creme Brûlée.

I’ve always been a fan of Creme Brûlée and figured why not make one of my favorite gluten-free desserts more festive by adding eggnog? Honestly, the first batch wasn’t the best since I used the same amount of sugar I’d regularly use for a traditional Creme Brûlée, and didn’t take into account that the eggnog already had a lot of added sugar on its own. Don’t get me wrong that first batch was delicious but ELF level sweetness (check out the movie ELF if you don’t get the reference 😉) and I was only able to make it through half a serving before going on a major sugar high then crash 😳.

I’ve made the recipe a couple of times since and have now perfected it by reducing the amount of sugar. I’ve already made my first batch for the holiday season and Romeo is already asking when I’m making more lol.

Creme Brûlée is an awesome treat to serve any time of year and adding the eggnog makes it a little more festive! I really hope you get to try this out over the holidays and if this is your first time making Creme Brûlée don’t get intimidated by the fancy french name it’s actually pretty simple and a lot of fun to make!

Step 1 – Warm your Cream and Eggnog

Eggnog Creme Brûlée - Warm your Cream and Eggnog

In a medium, high-walled sauce pan, combine your eggnog and cream and mix well. Before turning on the heat, slice your vanilla bean* in half, scrape out the inside into the dairy mixture, mix well and turn your stove on medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remember to stir constantly and make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure that the milk doesn’t burn on the bottom.

Once your liquid reaches a boil immediately remove it from the heat, remove vanilla bean and set aside for 10 minutes to cool down.

*Vanilla beans can be rather expensive and hard to find (depending on where you live), and you can substitute the vanilla bean for 1 tsp of vanilla extract. However, if using extract add only AFTER you’ve remove the liquid from the stove and it has cooled first, otherwise the alcohol with burn off quickly.

**If using the vanilla bean place the other second half of the bean into a cup a sugar to make vanilla-infused sugar, which you can top your creme brûlée with or use as you like for anything else 😋

Step 2 – Combine Cream and Eggs

Eggnog Creme Brûlée - Combine Cream and Eggs

While your dairy is cooling, whisk your egg yolks and sugar together, then VERY gradually add in your dairy. If you add your warm dairy too quickly you’ll scramble your eggs, so be patient when doing this.

Once all the dairy and eggs are well-combined, pour the mixture into your ramekins.

Step 3 – Bake and Torch!

Eggnog Creme Brûlée - Water Bath

Now that the hard part is done, it’s time to bake your creme brûlées in a water bath. If you’re not familiar with the term, a water bath is when you bake your dish in a pan of water. This method is very important when making custard-based desserts, as the hot water creates moisture in your oven and prevents the custard from cracking and becoming rubbery. The water provides a slower and more even heat source around the ramekins which will ensure that your eggs don’t curdle.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool for about 20 minutes, then transfer your creme brûlées to the fridge for at least 3 hours, and up to 3 days.

Eggnog Creme Brûlée - Out of the Oven

Now for the last step, which you can only do this right before serving, you cannot do this step in advance. Take your cream brûlée out of the fridge 10 minutes before serving, and sprinkle the top with a generous amount of sugar then use a culinary torch (carefully) to melt the sugar and create that beautiful top crispy layer!

The ramekins are pretty hot right after you torch them so wait about 5 minutes and serve! This also lets the sugar re-harden into a crispy, yummy shell… That’s it, your creme brûlée is ready to serve.

Hope you enjoy!

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