Salted Caramel Creme Brulee

Salted Caramel Creme Brûlée is a new twist on a classic dessert, you will adore the hints of caramel inside this simple & rich dessert. 

Happy Monday Y'all!! It's been a long, hot summer, yet I can't come to terms we are in August of 2014! We all say it, but boy does time fly. Before we know it Halloween will be here then Thanksgiving then CHRISTMAS! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE  Christmas! It' doesn't help me that for work I try to plan 6 months ahead. So I am constantly ahead. Do you ever stop and think what day is it? What month is it? Heck, what year is it?! LOL, this is what happens to me on my crazy days.

Luckily, I only have 6 out of 7 crazy days a week 😉

Anyways, on to the main attraction here...

A few months ago I made Creme Brûlée for the first time, then I made it again and again. And now I've made it again! This time Salted Caramel Creme Brûlée. Because if you haven't noticed Salted Caramel tends to make an appearance quite often here! I can't get enough, can't stop won't stop!

Let's get to the recipe.

What are the ingredients?

One of the benefits of creme brulee is the extremely short ingredient list. You'll need:

• Cream. Make sure to use heavy whipping cream or double cream.
• Vanilla Bean. I know they're expensive but they are worth it.
• Salted Caramel. You can use Homemade Salted Caramel or store-bought salted caramel.
• Sugar. Granulated/ Caster Sugar is needed for both the creme brulee creme and the burned sugar top.
• Egg Yolks. Make sure to use large eggs, and save the whites for some meringue cookies!!

How do you make Salted Caramel Brûlée?

Preheat your oven to 325F/163C and get a large roasting pan out and place (4) 6oz ramekins inside the roasting pan.

To remove the vanilla bean seeds from the pod hold the vanilla bean down then use a knife to cut it in half lengthwise. Next, use the non-sharp side of the knife to gently press all of the seeds out of each half.

In a large saucepan over medium heat gently warm the heavy cream, vanilla bean seeds, and actual vanilla pod, first part of the sugar and salted caramel.

Let cook until just before boiling, then remove from heat.

Make sure you watch the cream as you do not want it to boil, then burn. Once warmed cover the pot with a a lid and let the mixture steep for 10 minutes.

Remove vanilla bean pod and set saucepan aside.

Optional but I love to do this: place the used vanilla bean pods in a plastic bag and fill with sugar to make vanilla sugar for the tops of the creme brulee, set aside until ready to use.

In the bowl of an electric mixer or large bowl with a whisk, or electric hand mixer combine the remaining sugar and egg yolks.

Beat on high until they start to turn a paler yellow color, you don't want to beat for too long.

Then, slowly add the cream in small increments continually stirring, mixer on low. Once all cream has been haded strain the mixture into a bowl with a pour spout over a fine-mesh sieve.

The sieve will catch any egg that has cooked, any chunks from the vanilla bean pods, and any extra foam. We don't want a ton of foam as that will affect the texture of the creme brulee.

Pour the caramel cream evenly into ramekins.

Fill roasting pan with hot water until about halfway up the ramekins, I prefer to do this once the pan is already in the oven. This helps avoid splashing.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, you want the middle to be set but still have a little give, not super giggly. I like to use my Thermapen MK4 to take the internal temperature, you want them to be 170F/77C.

Take the ramekins out of the water bath and let cool for 20 minutes then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 4 days.

Right before serving sprinkle 2 teaspoon of the vanilla sugar on top of each creme brûlée and using a kitchen torch burn the sugar.

More recipes

• Lemon Creme Brulee
• Creme Brulee Cheesecake
• Chocolate Creme Brûlée

This post was originally published August 11, 2014, as of February 1, 2020, it has been updated.

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

Make sure to join our Newsletter and follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

Print

Recipe Card

This recipe was originally published on August 11, 2014 as of March 10, 2020 the photos and text have been updated.