Chocolate Crème Brûlée

One of my favorite French desserts is crème brûlée because of the creaminess of the custard and the crunch of the caramelized sugar. I have tried many different twists on the original crème brûlée such as honey and cinnamon, but I have never eaten a chocolate crème brûlée. I decided to create my own recipe for a chocolate crème brûlée and it had a different element creaminess and crunch, but was still delicious!

Chocolate Crème Brûlée

1 Extra-Large Egg

4 Extra-Large Egg Yolks

1/2 Cup Sugar, Plus Extra for Topping

3 Cups Heavy Cream

8 Ounces Bittersweet Chocolate, Chopped

1 Vanilla Bean, Split and Scrapped

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. It is important to keep the oven at a lower temperature to slowly under-bake the custard. Place six (8 oz) ramekins in a rimmed baking sheet.  

Separate the 4 egg yolks into a heatproof bowl. Add the whole egg and sugar. Whisk until just combined. Set aside.

Pour the heavy cream into a saucepan on medium heat. Add the vanilla bean seeds. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan and decrease the heat, so it is lightly simmering for 10 minutes. Unfortunately, this is the point where I realized I forgot to buy the bittersweet chocolate at the grocery store. Thankfully, my husband was able to quickly buy some, so I could keep making chocolate crème brûlée instead of just vanilla crème brûlée. Remove the cream from the heat and add in the chocolate. Whisk until it melted. 

Whisk the chocolate cream into the egg mixture until combined. It is easiest to add the mixture into a measuring cup to then pour into the ramekins. Place the rimmed baking sheet into the oven and then add hot water into the pan, so the water level is halfway up the ramekins. I have learned the hard way because one time I tried adding the water before putting the pan into the oven and the water went all over my kitchen. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the custards are still jiggly in the middle and set on the edges. Remove the custards from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, put into the fridge until you are ready to eat them. They need some time to firm up.

When it is dessert time, sprinkle 1T of sugar on top of the custard. If you do not have a blowtorch, you can broil the custards in the oven, but I have found that it heats up the crème brûlée too much and doesn’t caramelize the sugar evenly. I had to invest in a blowtorch and it is a lot of fun watching the flame melt the sugar into different caramel colors. Let cool for 5 minutes.

One of my goals with writing this blog is that average bakers or cooks can look at a crème brûlée and can say I can make it. It looks complicated when you eat it, but it is actually quite basic to heat up heavy cream and whisk in some eggs. When you break down the steps, an average baker can make a delicious French dessert. Enjoy this twist on crème brûlée!