Espresso Creme Brûlée

Coffee and dessert lovers unite! This decadent Espresso Creme Brûlée combines the rich flavor of espresso coffee and classic French custard for a dessert made in heaven.  My espresso creme brûlée recipe was inspired and sponsored by Princess Cruises but all opinions are my own.

Espresso Creme Brûlée

Espresso Creme Brûlée has become my all-time favorite dessert and my new go-to for entertaining. It’s surprisingly easy to make and serves up to 10 people. The crunchy, caramelized sugar topping shatters with a satisfying crack when tapped with a spoon, and reveals a rich and creamy custard that’s packed with real espresso flavor.

I’m one of those gals who would skip a meal and jump right to dessert and coffee any old time. I just love my sweets and I love my coffee.

When it comes to dessert, creme brûlée is my absolute favorite. It’s perfection in a dish – silky-smooth custard topped with a glass-thin layer of crunchy, caramelized sugar… Mmmmm. It’s pure bliss.

When it comes to coffee, espresso is my mug of choice. I have an espresso maker, which I adore, and having fresh espresso at my fingertips every day has kind of spoiled me. A regular cup of coffee just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Recently, on board an Alaskan Princess Cruise with Amanda, I discovered that I could have my two greatest loves, espresso and creme brûlée, served up in one amazing, out-of-this-world dessert.

Espresso creme brûlée was one of our dessert choices at Sabatini’s Restaurant on our first night aboard the ship. I have to confess that every single night I was onboard the ship that week, I had creme brûlée for dessert, but we only dined at Sabatini’s once and it was the only restaurant that served espresso creme brûlée. Guys. It was insanely delicious.

One bite and I was in heaven. Hands down, it was the best dessert I’ve ever had. And because I never got the chance to have it again, I knew I’d have to recreate it when I got back home. I’ve made it twice now, once for a girls’ get-together, and the second time to serve at a family get-together. I’m happy to say my espresso creme brûlée was a huge hit with everyone.

If you have a weakness for coffee and dessert, or more specifically for espresso and creme brûlée, you’ll want to give this recipe a try. It’s super-easy to make, and I can pretty much guarantee it will be a huge hit with you too.

How many servings does this espresso creme brûlée recipe make?

This recipe will make four 5-oz servings of creme brûlée or ten 2-oz servings.

Ingredients for Espresso Creme Brûlée

• 1 & 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 prepared shots of espresso (1 oz each)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 7 egg yolks
• several tbsp white sugar (for caramelizing)

To start: preheat the oven to 200F and boil a kettle of water for the water bath

Helpful Kitchen Tools

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Breville espresso machine
• Saucepan
• Ramekins
• Kettle
• Kitchen Torch

Making your creme brûlée:

Separate the yolks from 7 eggs. You can refrigerate the whites to use them later for making this homemade banana pudding. You can even use them to make Amanda’s homemade eggnog cocktail or this pink lady cocktail!

Combine cream, milk, sugar, espresso, and vanilla in a pot, and bring just to the boiling point over medium-high heat.

As soon as the pot starts bubbling, remove it from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Whisk egg yolks together well, and then slowly pour in the hot mixture, whisking constantly. This is called tempering the eggs. It’s important to keep whisking and to add the hot liquid very slowly. Adding it too quickly will actually cause the egg yolks to cook!

Strain this mixture through a sieve into a spouted bowl or large measuring cup. This will remove any bits of egg that might have curdled or cooked when you added the hot mixture.

Place your ramekin dishes in an oven-proof baking dish, and pour the hot mixture into the ramekins.

The water bath

Now, remember that kettle of water you boiled earlier? Make sure that’s still steaming hot. Pour the kettle water into the baking dish until it’s about halfway filled.  Take care to not splash any water into your ramekins. This water bath will provide moisture during baking. It will prevent the top of the custard from splitting, and the insides from becoming rubbery.

Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 2 hours. When done, the creme brûlée should look set, but the centers should jiggle slightly when shaken.

Remove the baking dish from the oven and transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack for 30 minutes.

Transfer the ramekins to the fridge to let them chill and set completely. I would recommend a minimum of 4 hours, but they can remain refrigerated up to 2 days.

Torching your creme brûlée

Just before you’re ready to serve your creme brûlée, remove the dishes from the fridge and sprinkle a teaspoon or so of sugar over the surface of each dish. Shake the dish a little to ensure even coverage.

Using a kitchen torch, or an actual blow torch, brown the sugar until it’s fully caramelized. You can watch the short video below to see how it’s done.

After torching, you can pop the ramekins back into the fridge for a few minutes to allow the caramelized sugar to harden.

Now, grab a spoon, give your brûlée a crack, and dig into that creamy espresso goodness.

If you’re interested in seeing more about our Princess Alaskan Cruise, we have several others posts showing you some of the fun excursions we went on like the Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter Tour, and one of our stops at Icy Strait Point including the whale watching excursion!

We can’t leave without telling you about our Key Lime Pie Martini, which was inspired from The Wheel House Bar onboard the Island Princess. This martini is everything you could dream of in cocktail form, you’ll be amazed at how much it tastes like an actual key lime pie!

Espresso Creme Brûlée

Coffee and dessert lovers unite! This decadent creme brûlée combines the rich flavour of espresso coffee and the classic french custard for a dessert made in heaven.

5 from 5 votes

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Course: Desserts

Cuisine: French

Servings: 4 5-ounce servings

2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Calories: 513

Author: Amanda Davis

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream
• ▢ ⅓ cup whole milk
• ▢ ½ cup sugar
• ▢ 4 ounces prepared shots of espresso 4 at 1 oz each
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 7 large egg yolks

Topping

• ▢ 4 tbsp several tbsp white sugar for caramelizing

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200F and boil a kettle of water for the water bath.
• Separate 7 egg yolks into a large bowl. 
  
• Combine cream, milk, sugar, espresso and vanilla. Simmer until just boiling medium-high heat.
• Remove pot from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
• Whisk egg yolks together, and slowly whisk in the hot cream mixture.
• Strain into a spouted bowl or large measuring cup to remove any bits of cooked egg. 
• Place your ramekin dishes in an oven-proof baking dish, and pour the mixture into the ramekins.
• Fill baking dish halfway full with boiling kettle water. 
• Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 2 hours. 
• Remove the baking dish from the oven and transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack for 30 minutes.
• Transfer ramekins to fridge and allow to chill for a minimum of 4 hours (up to 2 days).
• To serve, sprinkle a tsp of sugar over the surface of each dish, and shake to evenly distribute.
  
• With a kitchen torch or blow torch, brown the sugar until fully caramelized. 
• If desired, chill ramekins again for a few minutes to allow topping to harden.

Nutrition

Serving: 15-ounce serving | Calories: 513cal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 426mg | Sodium: 55mg | Potassium: 147mg | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 1555IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 110mg | Iron: 0.8mg

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