Easy Creme Brulee for Two

Easy Crème Brûlée for Two is an indulgent dessert, made of rich custard with caramelized sugar top layer. Sounds complicated? It's not! It's impressive but super simple to make! This is a classic recipe and is perfectly portioned for two servings; a lovely way to end a romantic meal!

With Valentine's day coming up, I'm already thinking about what to plan for a romantic dinner with the hubs. Our tradition for the holiday is to stay home, avoiding the crazy packed restaurants and enjoying an extra special dinner that we prepare together. We don't do gifts, we don't rush...we simply enjoy our time and enjoy an amazing meal. It's always wonderful.

I was dreaming up of all the desserts I could make to end our dinner. Given I'm still recovering from all the sweets over the holidays, I especially did not want any extras of anything lying around the house afterward. Hah!

That's when Crème brûlée came to mind.

Crème Brûlée might be the PERFECT EASY DESSERT

It is one of those treats that tantalizes every one of your senses- a rich, cool, creamy custard and a caramelized, candy-like layer on top. Crème Brûlée has the perfect balance of crunch to creamy.

It's served in an individualized little ramekin so you don't have to share with anyone.

It's sweet, aromatic, and yes, the flavor options are ENDLESS. Banana, chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, citrus, berry, pumpkin, lavender, white chocolate, chai latte...literally any flavor you can think of, will work with Crème Brûlée. And, when you make it yourself, it's one of the few desserts where you get to play with fire.

With all that said, I truly feel that the best part about classic Crème Brûlée is its simplicity.

Ingredients you'll need for Crème Brûlée:

Cream

Egg yolks

Sugar

Vanilla

Salt

There's really not much to it, and there's something beautiful about that.

If you're thinking, "Sure, the ingredient list is simple, but the steps from ingredients to delicious custard is complicated. It sounds too fancy. Fancy=hard."

I promise you it is SUPER easy to make. All you have to do to master Crème Brûlée is to get yourself familiar with the process, and before I get into that, I've put together this lovely little video showing you how...also, my first recipe video.

YAY!!!

Making the Custard

First, know that this dessert needs chill time- about 3-4 hours in the fridge before serving. Also, be sure to not rush through this recipe. There are some steps that involve a little extra care.

For example, after heating up the cream, you want to slowly add it to your eggs. If you add it too quickly, you risk scrambling your eggs.

You want to continually stir quickly or whisk the eggs while you SLOWLY add the cream in a small, steady stream. If you have someone who can lend a hand in the kitchen, it does make it a little easier!

Oh, by the way.... THIS IS THE HARDEST STEP, so once you get past this, you're pretty much good to go!

Caramelizing the Sugar

Just before serving, sprinkle a layer of granulated sugar onto the top.

Despite what you may read elsewhere, I promise you, granulated sugar will give you the perfect glass-like layer.

I had initially tried a recipe that raved about using turbinado sugar and/or raw sugar.

My advice: don't do it.

I tried...results below. The sugar granules are way too thick and I had burnt blotches everywhere. It was not pretty.

Using your kitchen torch, begin to slowly heat up the sugar layer.

I think I found a good technique for this. You want the flame to be a few inches away and move your hand in circular motion, heating up the entire top. As the sugar begins to bubble, you can move the flame a little closer to get the sugar extra toasty.

This process took longer than I thought it would, but by slowly heating up the sugar I found the crust to be more consistent and candy-like, which is what you want. You don't want to cook the sugar too quickly, otherwise you'll have some un-melted grainy spots.

There you have it!

I promise you this dessert will knock the socks off of your Valentine. Crème Brûlée is so impressive, easy to make with few, wholesome ingredients.

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