A couple weeks ago, I bought a ton of heavy cream so that I could experiment making chocolate ganache (even though chocolate ganache is actually a super easy, two-ingredient operation —it’s just that I don’t think I’ve made ganache since these ganache brownies and I wanted to make sure I had room for mistakes!).
Long story short, I had a lot of heavy cream left over and needed to quickly come up with a good recipe to use it on. Naturally, I turned to crème brûlée.
But I wanted to experiment with different crème brûlée flavors, since I already have a basic recipe. Also because I saw a video the other day of Craque de Crème in Toronto, which is a cafe that specializes in different crème brûlée flavors! They’ve got honey lavender, salted caramel, dulce de leche… it’s definitely on my list of dessert places I need to visit!
I’m also trying to experiment with matcha desserts, so I will likely have more coming your way soon!
In the meantime, hope you enjoy this rich and creamy twist on the classic crème brûlée!
Matcha Crème Brûlée
Ingredients
2 tsp matcha powder
2 tbsp hot water
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp almond extract
3 egg yolks
6 tablespoons sugar, divided
Directions:
1. Set a full kettle of water to boil on your stove.
2. In a very small bowl, mix the hot water and matcha together, until the matcha powder is completely dissolved.
3. Place the heavy cream, 3 tablespoons sugar, dissolved matcha, and almond extract in a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat on the stove. Heat for about 5-8 minutes until small bubbles form, but don’t allow the mixture to come to a rolling boil. Remove from heat.
4. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. In a bowl with an electric mixer, whip the egg yolks until thick and creamy. Once the cream mixture has cooled slightly, add it to the eggs and mix. If the cream was still hot, the yolks may have cooked a bit. You want to avoid this at all costs, because if the yolks cook your brûlée could come out curdled instead of silky-smooth.
5. Strain the mixture to remove any chunks.
6. Divide the cream mixture into 6 oven-proof custard cups. Find a glass pan that will fit all six custard cups. Place the custard cups in the pan, then add hot water to the pan. Only add enough hot water so that it is about an inch in height. Note: the water should not actually touch the crème brûlée. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes. The custard is ready when it has set a bit.
7. Allow the custard cups to cool at room temperature, then chill them in the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight.
8. Once the crème brûlée has chilled and they’re ready to be served, add about ½ a tablespoon sugar on top of each cup. Note: you can add more sugar for a crunchier custard.
9. With a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar. All you have to do is hold the flame above the custard and move it in a circular direction. You don’t want the flame to stay in one spot for too long. To avoid burning the sugar, hold the flame at an angle rather than pointing it directly at the sugar topping.
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