This White Chocolate Creme Brulee has a sweet luxurious custard topped with a caramelized sugar crust. It’s a decadent dessert that’s surprisingly easy to make.
Table Of Contents
Recipe Details
White Chocolate Creme Brulee is one of my favorite desserts because of its contrasting textures and flavors. It also makes an excellent party dessert!
- TASTE: Burnt sugar on top of a white chocolate custard gives this dessert lots of rich sweetness.
- TEXTURE: These creme brulees have a sweet luxurious custard and a caramelized sugar crust. The mix of creamy and crunchy is addictively good.
- TIME: This recipe takes just under an hour.
- EASE: Despite being a decadent dessert, this is surprisingly easy to make. I’ll walk you through each instruction so your creme brulee will always be perfect.
What You’ll Need
Ingredient Notes
- Egg yolks- This is the base for your custard and gives it a creamy texture that partially solidifies. Make sure your egg yolks and whites are separated well for the best texture.
- Whipping cream- This high-fat cream will be the other foundational ingredient to this White Chocolate Creme Brulee custard.
- Sugar- This will be used to sweeten the creme brulee, but also to create the caramelized crust that this dessert is famous for.
- White chocolate chips- Use good quality chips. The smaller size will help them melt faster.
- Vanilla extract- This flavor ingredient enhances the chocolate taste. Use pure over imitation vanilla because it has a better flavor and no additives.
Add-ins and Substitutions
- Substitute other flavors– You can make this creme brulee recipe with lots of variations, such as lemon, dark chocolate, pumpkin, orange, cinnamon, or lavender.
- Add espresso powder- This adds a nice bitter counterpoint to the sweetness of this dessert. Adding a little will make the flavor of the white chocolate really stand out.
- Substitute Half & Half- If you have no heavy cream, you can use Half & Half. It should still be creamy, though not as rich.
- Caramelize the top without a torch- If you don’t have a creme brulee torch, you can caramelize the sugar by putting the creme brulees on broil in the oven for 3-4 minutes.
How to Make White Chocolate Creme Brulee
- Create the custard base. Lightly whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and set aside. Now add the heavy cream to a saucepan and bring it to a simmer, then add the white chocolate chips to it and let them melt.
- Add the cream. Now slowly pour the hot heavy cream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. Strain the mixture into a measuring cup.
- Make a water bath. Next, you’ll want to place all the ramekins into a deep baking dish and fill it with boiling water (enough to fill about 1 inch of the dish).
- Fill the ramekins. Then pour the creme brulee custard into each ramekin and carefully transfer the baking pan to the oven.
- Bake. Bake the white chocolate creme brulee for 25-30 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Let them cool completely then refrigerate covered with plastic wrap for 4 hours.
- Caramelize the sugar topping. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar onto each cold creme brulee and begin caramelizing the sugar in a circular motion using a creme brulee torch until the sugar is golden brown and caramelized.
Pro Tip: The key to success when caramelizing is to constantly move the creme brulee torch. If you keep the torch in one place, the sugar will burn.
Recipe Tips
- Temper the eggs- To avoid scrambling your egg yolks, make sure to add a little bit of hot heavy cream at a time, whisking constantly, to raise their temperature slowly.
- Strain the custard- Using a fine mesh strainer will ensure that no small pieces of egg are cooked in your creme brulee. And straining into a measuring cup makes filling the ramekins so much easier.
- Use a water bath- Filling the baking dish with hot water will create a hot, humid environment for the ramekins of custard to cook in, so they don’t become rubbery.
- Keep the torch moving- Make sure that you don’t keep the flame in one area for more than a few seconds or it will burn too much and leave a very bitter taste.
FAQs
The custard will become rubbery if left to cook for too long. You want to take your creme brulee out of the oven when it is just barely set and a little jiggly. It will firm up as it sets in the refrigerator.
Egg whites help give desserts a firmer texture, which is why they’re great in puddings. But for a creme brulee, you want a texture that is tender and jiggling and creamy. Egg yolks do this very well.
It only takes about 3-4 minutes for your sugar to be fully caramelized. Watch carefully as it melts, moving the heat constantly and never stopping in one place for too long. This is so you will avoid burning the top of your creme brulee.
Serving Suggestions
This White Chocolate Creme Brulee is sweetly delicious and easy to make, which means it is the perfect dessert to serve anytime, anywhere. Here are some yummy pairings.
- Main dishes: Serve this dessert on a special occasion following a meal of Ribeye Steak , Pork Crown Roast, or Boneless Leg of Lamb.
- Toppings: Top your White Chocolate Creme Brulee with fresh fruit, espresso powder, Chocolate Ganache, Chantilly Cream, or mint leaves.
- Mini desserts: Pair it with other individual-sized sweets, like these No Bake Mini Cheesecakes (VIDEO), Mini Fruit Tarts, and Mini Almond Biscotti.
- Drinks: Enjoy this luxurious dessert with Hot Chocolate, a Pumpkin Spice Latte, or an Iced Caramel Macchiato.
Make This Recipe in Advance
Make ahead: You can make the creme brulee custard up to 8 hours ahead of time, but don’t caramelize it. Refrigerating it afterward will cause the crust to soften. Store in the fridge, covered.
Storing: White Chocolate Creme Brulee can be refrigerated for up to 3 days before adding the sugar topping and caramelizing. Once it has been caramelized, they will only last about 30 minutes before the top gets soft.
Freeze: Wrap each creme brulee tightly in foil and keep frozen for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, thaw for about 20 minutes, then add the sugar and caramelize it with a creme brulee torch.
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Full Recipe Instructions
White Chocolate Creme Brulee
Ingredients
- 10 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar plus a little for topping
- 1 quart heavy cream
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Lightly beat the egg yolks and sugar just until blended.
- Heat the heavy cream and white chocolate chips in a saucepan over medium heat making sure to stir constantly. Once the cream starts to come to a slight simmer, turn off the burner. Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Slowly pour the heavy cream into the egg mixture. Then, using a fine-mesh sieve pour the mixture into a large measuring cup.
- Place the ramekins (crème brûlée dishes) into a deep baking dish, and pour the custard into 10-11 (4oz) ramekins.
- Fill the baking dish with hot water so it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 25-30 min or until the custard has set but still moves a little when shaken. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and let them cool down to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Sprinkle a small handful of sugar on top of each crème brûlée and shake to distribute the sugar evenly. Using a chefs-torch or cooking torch caramelize the sugar. When heating the sugar make sure to keep the flame constantly moving in circular motions until all the sugar has melted and browned. If you don't have a cooking torch, you can caramelize the sugar by putting the Crème brûlées on broil in the oven for 3-4 minutes.
Notes
- Temper the eggs- To avoid scrambling your egg yolks, make sure to add a little bit of hot heavy cream at a time, whisking constantly, to raise their temperature slowly.
- Strain the custard- Using a fine mesh strainer will ensure that no small pieces of egg are cooked in your creme brulee. And straining into a measuring cup makes filling the ramekins so much easier.
- Use a water bath- Filling the baking dish with hot water will create a hot, humid environment for the ramekins of custard to cook in, so they don’t become rubbery.
- Keep the torch moving- Make sure that you don’t keep the flame in one area for more than a few seconds or it will burn too much and leave a very bitter taste.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted on Feb 25, 2015, we’ve tweaked it a bit since then.
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Missy says
Velvety smooth. Just a hint of white chocolate
Dina says
I am glad you enjoyed the recipe, Missy.
Natasha of Natashaskitchen.com says
Mmm yum! I’m a sucker for creme brûlée and a white chocolate version sounds amazing! 🙂
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Natasha, creme brûlées are a weakness of mine as well. I don’t make them too often, but when I do, there’s no self control lol.
irina says
OK so I came home and decided to take that creme brulé back in the oven for another 30 min .. Turned out great 🙂 I knew at least one thing I did wrong was I didn’t keep it long enough in the oven but love it tastes great 🙂 thank you
admin says
I’m so glad it worked out and you enjoyed it 🙂 It really depends on the oven. conventional ovens take longer to cook as apposed to convection ovens which have a fan inside to help circulate the hot air. I’m sorry, I should have mentioned that in the post.
irina says
So I made a creme brulee exactly how you made it but even being in the fridge for over a night it came out very watery not still … Any idea why it and out that way??
admin says
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t turn out Irina. Did you use half and half instead of whipping cream? Maybe some of the boiling water got into the crème brûlées? It’s also possible that it was under baked too. Sometimes certain ovens require a longer cook time.
Nicole says
My Favorite dessert is Creme Brûlée. This looks so beautiful. I can’t wait to try it!
admin says
I highly recommend using a chef’s torch when making Creme Brûlée. Broiling it will give you that sugar crust, but it will warm up the custard as well. I prefer the custard to be chilled.
Anastasia says
These are really delicious, and so easy to make! Thanks for the recipe Dina
admin says
Thank you Nastya 🙂