Easy Coffee Creme Brulee

This Easy Coffee Creme Brulee Recipe is a decadent and tasty dessert. Plus you won’t believe how easy it is to make. 

The first time we ate creme brûlée was at a little French Bistro in Tulsa. I instantly knew I wanted to try to make it at home. Then I saw a coffee crème brûlée recipe while looking around on the internet and because I am a coffee lover I knew this is the version I wanted to make first.

I must admit that I was a little intimidated at the thought of making a baked custard. And the thought of cooking the cream mixture on the stove top and then having to let it sit and then adding it to the egg yolks without messing it up just seemed like too much for my first time making it. Then I found a recipe on Food Network where you just beat the egg yolks and sugar in one bowl, then the cream and instant coffee in another bowl and then mix the two together, bake it and voila, you have coffee creme brulee! 

Next time I am going to make either classic vanilla creme brulee using vanilla beans or some other yummy flavor. I will have to step out of my comfort zone and cook it on the stove top before baking it. 

What is Crème Brûlée?

Crème Brulée is a classic French dessert. It is a custard that is made with heavy cream, egg yolks, and sugar. It is baked in a water bath and is topped with sugar that is heated up with a blow torch to make a crunchy topping. So good!

The classic dessert is flavored with vanilla but I have seen it flavored with many different things. There are creme brulee recipes with many different fruits, chocolate, pumpkin, and caramel just to name a few. Kim over at Insanely Good has a great article with 23 ideas for flavored crème brûlée. 

Ingredients

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Ingredient Notes

Just 5 simple ingredients are all you need to make this easy dessert that has rich coffee flavor. 

Heavy Cream – you can use either heavy cream or whipping cream in this recipe.

Egg Yolks – I have an egg separator that looks a lot like this one. 

Granulated Sugar – we use regular granulated sugar, not superfine sugar. I wanted to make this recipe using everyday ingredients like my tagline states. 

Instant Coffee – I thought about using instant espresso powder but couldn’t find it in my local grocery store so I use my favorite brand of coffee granules I already have on hand. 

Vanilla – we use pure vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla. 

How to Make This Easy Coffee Creme Brulee Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Whisk yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth, approximately 1 – 2 minutes; set aside. 
3. In a medium bowl whisk ½ cup cream, instant coffee and vanilla until well combined and coffee granules are melted. Add the remaining cream and continue whisking until well combined. 
4. Gently fold the cream mixture into the egg mixture with a rubber spatula. Place ramekins in a large roasting pan and divide custard between them. Place into the oven, add hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Take care not to splash water into the custard. 
5. Bake custards 35 – 40 minutes for round ramekins and 45 – 50 minutes for oblong ramekins, or until the middle of the custard is set. Custard is done when the outer edges are darker in color and look set. The middle will remain bubbly and lighter in color (see photos).
6. Allow to cool on a wire rack or other heat proof surface for 10 – 15 minutes and then, for best results, refrigerate for a couple of hours. 
7. Sprinkle each ramekin as evenly as possible with one tablespoon of sugar and use a small kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. 

How to Tell When Crème Brûlée is Done

I googled how to tell when creme brulee is done and several websites said you can tell when it is done if it moves slightly when jiggled. Problem is you can’t jiggle it because the water is halfway up the sides of the custard cups and if you shake the baking pan you will get water into the custard. I quickly learned that you can tell when it is done when the edges become a darker color and the bubbles all go to the center.

Don’t worry about the bubbles because you will be spreading sugar on the top of the creme brulee and then heating up the sugar topping with a small blowtorch so the bubbles will not be visible. Also, while we do like our food to look good the look isn’t always indicative of the taste. I’ve had some pretty tasty dishes that weren’t that pretty to look at. And I have eaten some pretty dishes that didn’t taste good at all. 

Helpful Tips

• This recipe makes 6 servings. For this recipe we use 3 round and 3 oblong 6-ounce ramekins. The round baking dish has a shorter baking time than the oblong dish. 
• Use a ladle to spoon the custard mixture into the ramekins. You can also either mix the custard in a bowl with a pour spout or pour the mixture into one and pour it into the ramekins.
• When using the torch to caramelize the sugar move it in a circular motion so you don’t stay in one place too long. You don’t want the sugar to burn.  
• As you can see we don’t have a roasting pan big enough for all 6 ramekins so we use two 9″ X 13″ baking pans.

How to Store Creme Brulee

When you first put it in the refrigerator let it cool completely, after that cover with plastic wrap for up to 3 days. Do not put the sugar on until you are ready to caramelize it, right before serving. 

Do I have to have a torch?

I highly recommend using a torch, but you can do it under the broiler. We have tried it and it did work but I found that the sugar around the edges got very dark before any of the sugar in the center was even beginning to caramelize. I like almost anything that is browned to be lightly browned so I didn’t like how it turned out. And also the colder the custard is when you caramelize it the longer it takes to brown so torching it is a much better option. I feel like if you want to make a fancy-ish dessert like this then investing in a torch is a good idea. Plus you can roast marshmallows for s’mores, brown meringue and other toppings, or roast peppers with it. 

Where to buy a kitchen torch

The first time I made this recipe I thought I could just go buy a torch at one of the two kitchen stores here in Wichita. So I made the coffee crème brûlée and then while it was cooling in the fridge I set out to go buy the torch. Neither store had one and Walmart and Target didn’t have one either. I did find one at a local smoke shop that is perfect for this recipe. You can also find them online at Walmart or Amazon. But you have to plan ahead 😉.

What is the difference between heavy cream and whipping cream?

According to Southern Living heavy cream has about 36% milk fat while whipping cream has about 30% milk fat. Heavy cream will hold its shape better and whipping cream will have a slightly lighter and softer texture. Both work well for whipped cream and in this creamy custard recipe.

We hope you like this Easy Coffee Crème Brûlée recipe as much as we do. It is a fairly easy and impressive dessert that can be made ahead of time.

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Pumpkin Cookies with Marshmallow Glaze

Raspberry Cheesecake

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