spiced chocolate creme brûlée
with Valentine's Day under a month a way, this'll a great dessert for that special someone
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Shopping at Home Goods, as I do. Adding so much more than I intended to buy to my cart, as I do. I found the cutest little heart shaped ramekins tucked away along with all the other Valentine’s decor (or Galentine’s day, for those of you, like me who in your old age have never had a Valentine… but, I digress). I immediately knew I had to make cute holiday themed creme brûlée.
I’m some what of a self proclaimed creme brûlée afficionado. If it’s on a menu, ya girl is 100% getting it—no questions asked. So, I do love vanilla creme brûlée. It’s a classic. But, we aren’t here to convey vanilla feelings to those we love on February 14th. No, we are here to declare our unwavering, burning hot, eternal love and lust. The food we make has to emmulate that. In comes a spiced chocolate creme brûlée1. Chocolate creme brûlée is enough sure. It’s rich and real, just like your love for your person. But, the cayenne and cinnamon are there to show how we really feel. Cayenne to convey that rush of heat and passion you feel when you’re with them. While the cinnamon there is for a warm heat. The kinda heat that makes you feel safe. To feel held. The kinda heat the rounds out the cayenne, creating a balance. The way your partner rounds you, makes you feel balanced. A little coffee extract to punch up the flavor of the chocolate and really make you feel, alive. This creme brûlée embodies your romantic feelings for your partner. There’s also something about torching sugar in front of an audience that really gets things, moving and grooving.
Lust and torching aside, creme brûlée is deceptively easy to make at home. Even though, I know it feels so 5-star fancy. The quality of your ingredients really matters here. Normally for creme brûlée I’d opt for the best heavy cream you can find, since it’s one of the very few ingredients. But, here I think you can skimp out on the heavy cream and use something generic so that way you can put your coin into the 3 ingredients that are bringing the heat, literally and figuratively. Valrhona or Guittard are your best bets for the the cocoa powder. The flavor is truly unmatched. The addition of the cocoa powder sets a little thicker than vanilla creme brûlée, leaving you with a final product that is a custardy cross between brownie batter and choc lava cake. The Royal Cinnamon from Burlap & Barrel, is insane. It’s almost like having cinnamon for the first time. I of course, STAY using El Guapo for all my chile needs. Then there’s the Nielsen Massey coffee extract that I’ve been loving, since it’s super concentrated. But, you can just as easily go with 2 teaspoons of your favorite instant coffee instead of the extract.
This recipe makes 4- 8 ounce heart shaped ramekins of creme brûlée. But you, can also totally use the shallow 8 ounce round ramekins in their place.
The exact ones I used are no longer available online :/ BUT, I did scour the internet high and low to find some other options for you <33333
These, 6 ounce hearts hold a little less custard and the sides come up taller. If you go with this option, you’ll be filling the ramekin a little taller. I would drop the temp by 10 degrees to 290F and bake 30 minutes before starting to check for doneness to compensate.
These mini hearts are 3 ounces each and would work great if you decided to make these for a Galentine’s day gathering dessert table! Bake at 300F for 15-20 minutes before you start to check for doneness.
Ingredients:
425 grams heavy cream
15 grams dutch processed cocoa powder (2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons coffee extract
1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder, optional
110 grams granulated sugar
100 grams egg yolks (approx 5 large egg yolks)
extra granulated sugar for brûléeing
there are 6 egg yolks in this pic, because they were on the small side but by weight they’re 100 grams. Another case for why you should weigh EVERYTHING.
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 300F.
Get a pot/kettle of water going for the water bath while you prepare the custard.
To a medium saucepan add your heavy cream, cocoa powder, coffee extract, salt, cinnamon and cayenne powder. Bring this to a simmer.
Meanwhile, whisk together the granulated sugar and egg yolks. Just until combined, we don’t want to introduce too much air.
Temper the hot cocoa cream into the yolks mixture by gradually adding 1/3 of the cream at a time. Whisk in the first addition to ensure the eggs don’t scramble. Then switch to a rubber spatula for the last two additions. Once again we don’t want to add too much air.
Optional- but strain your custard base in to a measuring cup/pitcher. JUUUUST INCASE. It’ll get rid of any scrambled bits.
Place your ramekins into a deep baking dish, at least into a dish that’s an inch deep.
Pour the custard in to the ramekins filling about 3/4ths of the way full.
Place the baking dish in the oven BEFORE adding HOT water to the baking vessel. This will help limit how much you’re moving the pan full of water around and decrease the risk of any water spilling into the ramekins. The hot water bath (bain- marie) ensure gentle and even heat while baking.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until just set- there should still be slight wobble in the center but not a jiggly ripple.
Carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath. I use tongs for this. You do not want to leave them in the hot water bath as this will continue to bake the custard resulting in an over baked/scrambled product with an eggy taste.
Refrigerate until fully chilled. 4 hours to overnight.
To finish evenly coat each custard with a thin layer of granulated sugar. Use a torch to caramelize the sugar, You’ll want to hold the ramekin at an angle and slowly turn it in your hand while torching for even caramelization. Be sure not to leave the flame in one place for too long or this will cause the custard to melt and blend into the sugar and PLEASE be careful.
Allow the top to fully set. Crack and enjoy.
TYSM, ENJOY!! XOXO, KASSIE ♡
Here are a few torch recommendations! In general I prefer a torch head that attaches to a fuel source, like a butane canister rather than the tiny, shitty ones you get from somewhere like sur la table.
This Iwatani one is the one I use in my home kitchen. I love it. It’s not massive and I love the size of the flame it blows out.
A model similar to the Iwatani at a more affordable price point would be this FunOwlet torch top.
I feel like the BernzOmatic is the rolls royce of torches. I used them a lot when working in professional kitchens. They’ve got a small more pinpoint precise flame. I think if you’re torching things extremely often then this is the option for you.
and of course, always be incredibly carefully when handling any flame/heat source!!
Sounds wonderful. Can you recommend a torch? Ive had a small one that was basically worthless.
ChristineA
I made this tonight and it was absurdly delicious thank you <3