Strawberry Creme Brulee
Strawberry Creme Brulee is silky smooth custard, lightly flavored with strawberry, and topped with a crunchy caramelized sugar topping.
It was a fateful day when I realized you didn’t need a torch to make crème brulee. Instead you can caramelize the topping under the broiler.
That revelation set off a series of experiments from cream to egg ratios… to fun new flavors (see Variations below).
And even though I’ve now purchased a torch, I still like experimenting. Today, I did Strawberry Crème Brulee to celebrate spring!
On the Strawberry Version…
Now many of the Strawberry crème brulee recipes online are a bit different, with s strawberry fruit or jam layer on the bottom under the custard—kind of like yogurt. Problem is I don’t like fruit on the bottom yogurt, and I liked this even less in (normally) silky smooth crème brulee.
And so I did two experiments. For the the first, I blended in strawberry powder. Then for the second, I used pureed fresh strawberries. which was the winner. My other innovation was to puree the entire custard mix in the blender before cooking which made it all super easy.
While I like this slightly less than the lavender crème brulee I made recently, I’m excited to now have two spring options in my crème brulee repertoire!
Happy spring!
Why You’ll Love This!
Flavorful. With a light strawberry flavor, and crunchy sugar topping, crème brulee is now happily in the spring dessert realm.
Special. This would be a perfect dessert for so many special occasions. Think Valentine’s Day dinner, Easter dinner, or Mother’s Day brunch.
Impressive. Crème brulee is a dish that tells people you really know how to cook. You don’t need to mention how easy it is!
Step by Step Overview
Blend all ingredients except the topping sugar in the blender.
Strain into a pouring vessel.
Pour cream mixture evenly into ramekins.
Carefully place pan with ramekins in oven. While in oven, pour enough boiling water into pan, being careful not to splash water into ramekins, until water covers two-thirds of the height of the ramekins.
Bake 25 to 40 minutes until the center of the custard is set but jiggly (it’s okay if sides are jiggly too as long as the center is set). Final custard temperature should be about 170F. Carefully transfer ramekins individually to cooling rack—I found that lifting with a hamburger turner worked best. Refrigerate until chilled, approximately 2 hours.
Sprinkle about 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar over each chilled custard. Lightly press flat. Place under pre-heated broiler to brown. Watch like a hawk to avoid burning (or fire). Or sprinkle with white sugar and brulee with a torch.
Variations
I know that not everyone wants to experiment a lot in the kitchen. So, here are some of my tested creme brulee recipes you can try: Irish Coffee Creme Brulee, Maple Pumpkin Creme Brulee, Honey Matcha Creme Brulee, Lavender Creme Brulee.
Or if you prefer to avoid the torch part, you can still get the rich taste of custard with Creme Caramel!
Tips & FAQs
This time, the top of the crème brulee was not as smooth as I like when it came out of the oven–perhaps because there were tiny bubbles left after blending. But one it was bruleed, this disappeared and it was perfectly smooth!
You can make the creme brulee up to a couple days ahead of time if you leave off the topping (which can soften if refrigerated overnight). Then refrigerate, covered, and add the topping the day of serving.
Easter Treats
- Carrot Jamun from Magical Ingredients
- Chocolate and Peanut Butter Birds Nest from Jen Around the World
- Peeps Birds Nest Cupcakes from Creative Cynchronicity
- Strawberry Creme Brulee from Art of Natural Living
- Strawberry Crumble Bars from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
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Strawberry Creme Brulee
Ingredients
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
- 1/2 cup strawberry puree
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 9 teaspoons sugar for topping, brown for broiler, or white if using a torch
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325°F. In 13x9-inch pan, place 6 (4-oz) broiler safe ceramic ramekins.
- Blend all ingredients except the topping sugar in the blender.
- Strain into a pouring vessel. Pour cream mixture evenly into ramekins.
- Carefully place pan with ramekins in oven. While in oven, pour enough boiling water into pan, being careful not to splash water into ramekins, until water covers two-thirds of the height of the ramekins.
- Bake 25 to 40 minutes until the center of the custard is set but jiggly (it’s okay if sides are jiggly too as long as the center is set). Temperature should be about 170F.
- Carefully transfer ramekins individually to cooling rack—I found that lifting with a hamburger turner worked best. Refrigerate until chilled, approximately 2 hours.
- Sprinkle about 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar over each chilled custard. Lightly press flat. Place under pre-heated broiler to brown. Watch like a hawk to avoid burning (or fire). Or sprinkle with white sugar and brulee with a torch.
- Refrigerate until rechilled, 1-2 hours. Eat the same day (or sugar may soften).