Crème brûlée
Crème brûlèe. The classic custard-like dessert with a crunchy sugar coating. This recipe shows you how to prepare the perfect sous vide crème brûlée. The secret is the sous vide technique that makes this possible. Because by preparing the crème brûlèe sous vide, it is cooked below 85 degrees. In the recipe below, the crème brûlée is prepared in small glass jars. You can serve it directly in the same jars and burn it off. The result is a soft and creamy dessert with a crunchy layer of caramel.
Ingredients
- 150 gr egg yolk
- 500 ml cream
- 100 gr sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 2 gr salt
Preparation
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Get everything ready
Take a container, pan or the sous vide container and fill it with hot water. Set the sous vide device to 82 °C and let the water heat up.
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Start with the cream
Then mix the egg yolks, sugar and salt together in a bowl and whisk until smooth. In the meantime, heat the cream and the vanilla pulp in a pan to about 70°C. Let it steep for about 5 minutes. Leave this to infuse the vanilla flavour for about 5 minutes. Then pour the hot cream onto the egg mixture and stir in the meantime until the mixture becomes firmer.
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Fill the jars
Divide the mixture over the jars and close the lids tightly. Place the jars carefully in the sous vide and let them cook for at least 1 hour at 82 degrees.
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Brûlée de creme
After they are cooked, they must be cooled immediately. The quickest way to do this is to put them in a bowl of ice water and cool them down. When they are cooled down it is time to burn them. Put a layer of sugar on top of the cream. The more sugar you add, the crispier the layer will become. Take a crème brûlée burner. Burn the sugar until it is nicely golden brown and keep the burner at a distance of about 20 centimetres. When you have reached the color you want, give the sugar some time to harden. Enjoy!
I have a sous vide function in my oven, could I also cover dishes with a saucer?
Hi Monique,
I don't have a sous vide function on my own oven but this certainly seems possible!
We used weckpots of which the glass lid caused them to tilt. We solved the problem by putting a dish upside down in the water tank so that the lid is just under the water.
Nice solution, Peter!
I have made them once and they were delicious.
Now I want to make them again but I don't have time. Can I keep them in the fridge (without the sugar) for a day or 2?
Thanks a lot
Hi Moon, you can keep them in the fridge for at least three days!
I am trying this recipe as my first sous-vide experience, but when "launching" the weck jars they tilt, I think due to the air in the weck jars. How can I solve this?
Hi Andre, if Tim's solutions don't work you could always use heavier weck jars. That might also cause the weck jar to sink to the bottom.
Hi Andre, can you get them upright again with some kitchen utensils? Otherwise it might be an idea to use a pair of tongs (e.g. one for the BBQ) to lower the preserving jars into the container. Good luck in any case, and I love to hear if it worked out!
Which jars are pretty enough to put on the table when you have guests?
We used preserving jars, but feel free to choose a different kind of jar. As long as they have a watertight seal, basically anything is possible!