Crème Brûlée Recipe • 5★

Updated May 8, 2026

Craig Lee for The New York Times

1:34Credit...The New York Times and Phoebe Melnick

Five simple ingredients – cream, vanilla, salt, eggs and sugar – make for an exquisitely rich and elegant dessert. Most crème brûlée recipes require the use of a small propane torch to achieve the crackly sugar top, but this version offers a simpler (and safer) solution: your oven's broiler. One thing to note: Be sure to let the custard set for several hours in the refrigerator before brûléeing the top, otherwise you'll end up with soupy custard.

Featured in: THE MINIMALIST; How to Create the Crunch on Top of the Crème

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2 cups heavy or light cream (or half-and-half)

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup granulated sugar, plus more for topping

Step 1Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream, vanilla bean and salt; cook over low heat just until hot. Let sit for a few minutes, then discard vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, add it now.)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan, combine cream, vanilla bean and salt; cook over low heat just until hot. Let sit for a few minutes, then discard vanilla bean. (If using vanilla extract, add it now.)

Step 2In a bowl, beat yolks and sugar together until light. Stir about a quarter of the vanilla cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir. Pour into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the ramekins.The New York Times CookingThe New York Times CookingThe New York Times Cooking

In a bowl, beat yolks and sugar together until light. Stir about a quarter of the vanilla cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir. Pour into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish; fill dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

The New York Times Cooking

Step 3Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until centers are barely set. Cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours and up to a couple of days.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until centers are barely set. Cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours and up to a couple of days.

Step 4When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer.

When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer.

Step 5Place ramekins in a broiler 2 to 3 inches from heat source. Turn on broiler. Cook until sugar melts and browns or even blackens a bit, about 5 minutes. Serve within 2 hours.

Place ramekins in a broiler 2 to 3 inches from heat source. Turn on broiler. Cook until sugar melts and browns or even blackens a bit, about 5 minutes. Serve within 2 hours.

Another way to brown is the sugar is to use a metal spoon, heat it up for a minute on the stove and lightly touch the sugar. Do it gently and a couple of times and it gets brown and crispy!

I absolutely love this recipe and often just make it for 2 :) Here are the measurements for the recipe divided by 2.5 to get to 2 egg yolks: 3/4 cups of heavy cream 1 teaspoon of vanilla (I keep it at 1 for the flavor) 2 egg yolks 1/2 cup of sugar

Enjoy!

Suggestion: Warm everything up first.

Set the eggs and cream out so they warm up to room temperature. Fill the baking dish with hot tap water and use that to warm up your ramekins while you assemble the mixture. Then, once the oven's preheated and the water's boiling in a pot on the stove, remove the ramekins from the baking dish and toss the warm water, fill the ramekins with the mixture, pour the boiling water and put it in the oven.

Can you freeze these?

We found the custard extremely sweet, prefer more contrast between it and the brûléed sugar on top. Next time I will reduce the amount of sugar considerably.

An easy and forgiving recipe that will truly shine for your guests. The timing is also forgiving, but creme brûlée should be cooked to only 170 - 175 degrees, and it will still look very wobbly. Trust Mark, he knows what he's doing!

Source: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/9039-vanilla-creme-brulee