Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (2024)

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by Donya Mullins 5 Comments This post may contain affiliate links.

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Creme Brûlée flavored with just the right amount of fresh lemon is totally irresistible. You can skip the fancy restaurant since it’s surprisingly easy to make. If you’re a citrus lover like I am, then make this classic dessert. You’ll love it!

Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (2)

One of my favorite desserts, whenever we go out to eat, is cream Brulee. I love cracking the sweet top layer to reveal the creamy custard inside.

I’ve combined my love of this dessert with one of my favorite flavors, lemon. Even though this dessert has a fancy name, it’s really easy to make.

Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (3)

What Is Crème Brûlée?

Crème brûlée is a creamy, pudding-like, baked custard with a slightly hard top of melted sugar that cracks when you gently tap it with a spoon.The melted sugar crust will be slightly warm or room temperature when served, with the custard below, cool and creamy.

Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (4)

What You Need To Make Lemon Crème Brulee

  • Whipping Cream
  • Lemons
  • Sugar
  • Egg Yolks
  • Vanilla
  • Salt
  • Sugar

Items To Use With This Recipe

Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (5)

What Is A Water Bath?

A weather bath is a pan of water placed into an oven. The hot water provides a constant, steady heat source and ensures even, slow cooking for recipes like puddings, and crème brûlée.

The best way to prepare a water bath is to put your pudding or cheesecake into the roasting pan, place the pan into the oven, and add enough hot water to reach halfway up the pan.

Can I Make Lemon Crème brûlée Ahead Of Time?

Crème brûlée can be made up to 2 days in advance. Cover the ramekins and keep them in the refrigerator. Do not torch it until just before serving. Sprinkle on the sugar and heat with a torch before you are wanting to serve.

This custard freezes beautifully! Just wrap each one in plastic wrap and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let themstand at room temperature for about 5 to 10minutes to thaw, then torch and serve.

Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (6)

Can I Make The Sugar Topping Without A Torch?

Yes, you can. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and place them in a cold oven. Turn the oven to BROIL to caramelize the sugar. This will take about 5-10 minutes. Make sure to watch closely so that the sugar does not burn.

More great recipes with lemons:

  • Grilled Lemon Chicken
  • Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
  • Lemon Blueberry Poke Cake
  • Bourbon Basil Lemonade

Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (7)

Creme Brûlée Flavored with Lemon

Author: Donya Mullins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 468kcal

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Creme Brûlée flavored with just the right amount of fresh lemon is totally irresistible.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups whipping cream
  • 5 teaspoons grated lemon peel
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • ¼ teaspoons salt
  • Golden brown sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Arrange 8 custard cups/dishes in a 13 x 9″ metal pan.

  • Combine cream and lemon peel in a small saucepan and bring to simmer.

  • Whisk sugar and yolks in a separate bowl until thick, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in hot cream – a little at a time so that you don’t scramble the eggs – then add vanilla and salt.

  • Let mixture stand for approximately 10 minutes.

  • Strain custard and divide among cups. Pour hot water (not boiling) from a kettle into baking pan – enough to come up half way on the cups, making a water bath.

  • Bake custard until just set in center about 45-50 minutes. Remove and chill uncovered at least 3 hours.

  • To make sugar crust, crush the light brown sugar (through a mesh strainer or with the back of a spoon) and divide between cups. Custards can be put under the broiler about 2 minutes or a cooks torch can be used. Chill until sugar is hard and crisp, about 1 hour.

  • Serve alone or with fresh berries.

Notes

You can make the custards a day ahead and after cooling, cover with plastic wrap until ready for sugar topping.

Nutrition

Calories: 468kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 247mg | Sodium: 107mg | Potassium: 119mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 1507IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 1mg

Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (8)

Did you make my Creme Brûlée Flavored with Lemon?I’d love to see! Share on Instagram, tag @asouthernsoul, and use the hashtag #asouthernsoul!

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Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (9)
Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (10)

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Comments

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  1. Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (11)lynn

    Looking forward to making your Lemon Cream Brulee. Made your Pina Colada cake, a huge hit. Just love your recipes.

    Reply

    • Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (12)Donya

      Hey there Lynn!
      I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the Pina Colada Cake, it’ll be a perfect recipe to make heading into spring and summer! Thank you so much for your kind words of support and for your interest in this Crème Brûlée recipe, if you have any questions about the directions or anything really, please don’t hesitate to ask!
      ~Donya

      Reply

  2. Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (13)Nancy

    What size custard / ramekin did you use ? Thanks

    Reply

    • Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (14)Donya

      I use the smaller ones. I think they are about 5 ounces.
      ~Donya

      Reply

  3. Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (15)Bev

    I love custard and make it all the time. But I have never tried lemon. It sounds delicious. Thank you for the recipe

    Reply

Lemon Crème Brûlée Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of crème brûlée? ›

This is a key step to making perfect crème brûlée – baking your custards in a water bath. A water bath is a pan of water that the ramekins are placed in to bake. A water bath provides some insulation from direct heat which allows the custards to cook gently, evenly, and prevents cracking.

What's the difference between crème brûlée and custard? ›

The main difference between the two is that creme brulee is topped with a layer of sugar that caramelizes under a broiler or torch, resulting in a crunchy, burnt sugar topping. Egg custard does not have this additional layer of sugar, but some recipes call for a dusting of nutmeg or cinnamon.

What is the difference between creme caramel and crème brûlée? ›

Two delicious desserts that are beloved! Crème Brûlée and Crème Caramel. Crème Brûlée is made with a milk but mostly cream base and Crème Caramel has a milk base.

What is the best sugar to melt on crème brûlée? ›

Plain old white sugar is the best choice for crème brûlée

As the outlet explains, white sugar's small crystals easily melt under the heat of a blowtorch, meaning they'll caramelize quickly and leave the custard underneath nice and cool.

Why is crème brûlée so hard to make? ›

The ingredients required for creme brulee are shockingly simple. The only difficult part of this recipe is planning ahead of time to chill the custards before torching. Eggs.

What is the fancy name for crème brûlée? ›

Crème brûlée or crème brulée (/ˌkrɛm bruːˈleɪ/; French: [kʁɛm bʁy. le]), also known as burnt cream or Trinity cream, and virtually identical to crema catalana, is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar.

What is the English version of crème brûlée? ›

A Cambridge burnt cream is an English version of crème brûlée and is thought to derive from Trinity College, Cambridge. In Dominic Chapman's recipe, the rich vanilla dessert is paired with sablé biscuits, which can be dipped into the rich cream once the delicate sugar crust is broken. discover more: Butter Recipes.

Is flan the same as crème brûlée or panna cotta? ›

Highlights. Panna Cotta is a smooth, creamy dessert of Italian origin. Creme Brulee is famous because it is usually topped with brown sugar. Flan refers to a sweet custard-like dessert, topped with caramel.

Is leche flan the same as crème brûlée? ›

“Leche Flan” is the Filipino version of Crème brûlée and is also known as Crème caramel. The main difference with this Filipino dessert is that leche flan is Jello-like in consistency, while crème brûlée is pudding-like. Another difference is how the leche flan is cooked.

Does crème brûlée go bad? ›

They should be cool enough after about two hours in the refrigerator, but you can keep them in the fridge for up to three days, which makes them an excellent make-ahead dessert that'll surely impress your friends.

Is turbinado the same as brown sugar? ›

Turbinado Sugar is a type of Brown Sugar, but not the same as what you're probably used to.

Can I caramelized the sugar on creme brulee ahead of time? ›

Caramelize the sugar with a kitchen torch and serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 hour before serving. (Caramelized topping is best enjoyed right away.)

Is turbinado sugar better for creme brulee? ›

I've tried topping this creme brulee recipe with everything from superfine (caster) sugar to coarse turbinado sugar, and honestly all of them have worked for me. My preference for the most even sugar coating is just regular granulated sugar though.

What is the Speciality of crème brûlée? ›

Creme brûlée is a French dessert that is composed of a rich and creamy custard base that is topped with a layer of hard caramel. The caramel topping adds a slight burnt sugar flavor and crunch to the dessert.

What creates the hard top on a crème brûlée? ›

Crème brûlée is an easy dessert served in individual ramekins with a rich custard base made out of eggs, sugar, heavy cream and vanilla. The topping is made out of a thin layer of granulated sugar which is caramelized with a torch to create textually contrasting hard candy-like shell.

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