Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
Step 1
Preheat oven to 300°F. Place cream in a medium saucepan; scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and add pod. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat; set aside.
Step 2
Bring 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil, swirling pan occasionally and brushing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush, until mixture turns a deep amber color, about 4 minutes; remove caramel from heat.
Step 3
Remove vanilla pod from cream; discard. Slowly add cream to caramel (mixture will bubble vigorously). Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Step 4
Whisk egg yolks, kosher salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Slowly stream in caramel cream, whisking constantly. Divide custard among eight 6-ounce ramekins or ovenproof bowls and place in a kitchen towel–lined large baking dish or roasting pan. Fill pan with water to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until custard is just set but still jiggly in the center, 60–70 minutes. Remove ramekins from baking dish; place on a wire rack and let cool. Chill custards, uncovered, at least 3 hours.
Step 5
Top custards with whipped cream and sprinkle with sea salt.
Step 6
DO AHEAD: Custards can be made 2 days ahead; cover and keep chilled.
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Reviews (16)
Back to TopMade these for Thanksgiving. Silky, rich, and very delicious. Took me longer because my first attempt at caramel was a fail. Don't get overly enthusiastic with your swirling like I did, or the melted sugar will crystallize upon contact with any sugar crystals on the side of your saucepan. Also, don't whisk the cream into the eggs too vigorously, or it'll end up too foamy, meaning your finished custard won't have a smooth top. Still, these are well worth the effort, and I can't stop myself from dipping into them throughout the day!
yam_yam
San Francisco
11/26/2020
This dessert to simply wonderful. Last time I made it, I used my kitchen torch to caramelize the top. This kicked it into 5 star territory. More complex than an ordinary brulee. This is how I would make this in the future.
eileenm_wahl
Sarasota, FL
8/23/2020
A delicious caramel custard but I felt it needed an extra element so I made a crunchy crumble and salted pretzel topping to scatter over the top which was a great accompaniment! I will be making this again and again.
Bjarmstrong
London
1/2/2020
Very easy to make custard and great taste. I made a dry caramel rather than a wet, it is quicker as can be done on medium high heat and you can control the sugar better as you have to pay attention to it all the time.
kitchen monkey
London U.K.
8/29/2019
I made this creamy, dense and velvety custard for a dinner party, and it received rave reviews from all 15 of my guests. The recipe is FABULOUS and I will be making this again. Its a definite keeper!
Anonymous
Tennessee
12/30/2017
I finally got the right amount of heat for the sugar (high heat, add more water via pastry brush if it starts to dry out before caramelizing) and it turned out amazing. Everyone has raved about it and I've already made it again.
mtunnell
San Francisco, CA
12/12/2017
AMAZING! Tested this recipe last night for some friends to see if I wanted to make for Thanksgiving. I’ll definitely be making for Thanksgiving! Be sure to remove caramel portion from heat just before it turns the color you want or it can get too burnt tasting because it continues to cook after being removed from heat. Another review said to use a larger pot due to the bubbling up, listen to her advice.
picnicspreads
Arlington,VA
11/19/2017
Came out very nicely. Smooth and creamy with a definite burned caramel flavour that was very nice. My guests loved it. I made it the day before, let it cool uncovered but then covered it it for storage overnight. That covering caused condensation on the top and made it look less 'nice' than it did coming out of the oven. Maybe a piece of wax paper lightly laid over ramekins next time. Definitely need the whipped cream. I used Himalayan pink salt passed around in a small bowl for all to add as they wished
charmianentine
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
9/30/2015
BEWARE: Make sure you either make the caramel in a very high sided pot or let it cool almost completely before adding the cream. Otherwise it will bubble up significantly and flow over the sides of even a medium sized pan - like mine did - all over my newly cleaned stove - thereby loosing some of the delicious caramel and the cream. Plus making an absolute mess of my stove! Its in the oven now and I am sure the results will be great but the frustration was not!
charmianentine
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
9/26/2015
OMG, amazing!! Quite simple, as long as you give your sugar the timre it needs to carmelize. It will look funky fir awhile there, I almost gave up, but stick with it, the caramel will come! Some guests said, this is how I sometimes think creme brûlée should taste, but never actually does. Great make ahead dinner party dessert!
teamarie2
Seattle, WA
10/28/2014
Easy to make and so tastefull! I would make this again for sure.
Natapouette
1/13/2014
I had to do boil the sugar and water 3 times to get the caramel right. I think I was too conservative on the heat & stirred too often when it was boiling. Once I had it on med-high & swirled instead of stirred, it came out great! Really beautiful dish.
derrinl
el cerrito, ca
12/28/2013
Guests licked their ramekins clean! Fabulous taste and texture. Made two days ahead. One problem with the recipe instructions. Too much cream to be added to a small saucepan of caramel with the bubbling up that occurs. Need to use a slightly larger saucepan to make the caramel.
londonjen
Portland, Oregon
11/2/2013
Halved the recipe and had lots of trouble with the caramel - the syrup seized up and was hard to work with. I'm sure it was user error though I've made this type of thing before. Eventually worked through the crystallizing and other problems -- the end result was perfect. Just delicious and will definitely be repeated. Yum!
trovillion
DC
10/27/2013
I made this for a dinner party and everyone at the table raved about how delicious it was. One of the things I liked was that it could be made in advance. No last minute preparation. A definite repeat.
rsfgolfer
Del Mar, CA
10/24/2013
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