S’mores Creme Brulee
Jul 22, 2015, Updated Jan 02, 2018
S'mores Creme Brulee, a summer twist on the classic dessert!
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Summer is going way too fast and it almost nearing it’s end (WHAT?!!) and so before it ends I wanted to share a s’mores recipe and what better than S’mores Creme Brulee! If you love s’mores and love creme brulee then you are going to fall in love with this super indulgent dessert! Didn’t I tell you just yesterday that I was going to eat healthy and today I’m posting this indulgent dessert. What’s wrong with me? Baking is something I can’t do without so I have made peace with it. Healthy eating and desserts can co-exist, in my world at least 😀 And they can definitely more than co-exist if the dessert in question is s’mores creme brulee!
I had no idea what s’mores were until I moved to US. And of course it didn’t take me much time to fall in love with them. I mean there’s chocolate + crackers + marshmallows, of course it was instant love, had to be!
Creme brulee is so easy to make and yet I often see people afraid of making it at home. I don’t know why, it’s basically baked custard and made with minimal ingredients – cream, eggs and sugar. That is all you need to make creme brulee. Of course you add in things depending on what flavors you want, like I added chocolate because I was making a s’mores creme brulee. But it’s basically very simple stuff.
You only have to be careful about tempering the eggs. You don’t want to cook them and the only way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to pour the liquid slowly while whisking the eggs simultaneously. And that’s it, you then bake the custard till it looks set but still jiggles a bit. And yes you need to bake the ramekins half submerged in hot water. This method is called Bain Marie where water acts as a barrier between direct heat and custard, which allows the custard to cook evenly and smoothly.
For creme brulee you need a chef’s torch to caramelize the sugar. You don’t really need a fancy one, any basic torch would do. I asked my husband to gift this to me on my last birthday. (PS: I always tell him what I want well in advance!) I am sure you can caramelize the sugar in the oven too, on broil. You need to use superfine sugar here as that works best for creme brulee.
I went a little high on chocolate here because if you know me then you also know that I am a chocoholic so if you don’t share the same chocolate love, skip the bittersweet chocolate. I also added little instant coffee powder since it intensifies the chocolate flavor but that’s totally optional.
The best part about this dessert is that you can make it a day in advance. I recommend chilling overnight. When you have to serve, take it out and let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. And then use your torch to melt the sugar and form a crispy top, sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on top (since it’s s’mores creme brulee!!) and then top with toasted marshmallows. Again, you can either use torch or broil the marshmallows till toasted. And of course more chocolate drizzled on top never hurts!? Serve with a graham cracker stick and dig right in!
PS: this also doubles up as a recipe for Chocolate Creme Brulee. Just skip the graham crackers and marshmallows on top and you have chocolate creme brulee!
Method
Separate eggs and place the yolks in a bowl. Eggs separate best when cold. Add granulated sugar to the bowl of egg yolks.
Whisk for 2-3 minutes or till sugar is completely dissolved and mixture turns pale yellow. Set aside.
In a pan, put heavy cream on medium heat.
Once the cream heats a bit, add chopped chocolate.
Mix till chocolate is completely melted and mixed with the cream. Bring the mixture to a light boil and remove from heat.
Add the cream to the egg yolk-sugar mixture, little at a time, stirring continuously. This is important as we don’t want to cook the eggs. So add the cream little by little and keep whisking.
Once all the cream is incorporated, add in the ground coffee (optional) and mix.
Strain the mixture to another bowl so that we get rid of any lumps/particles (if any).
Divide the mixture equally among 4 ramekins. I used these 7 oz creme brulee dish. You can use whatever you have. Transfer the dish to a pan and then fill the pan with boiling water till ramekins are half submerged in water. Bake at 300 F degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the custard appears set but still jiggles a bit. The deeper ramekins may take more time to set, these took 25 minutes.
Carefully remove the ramekins from the pan and let them cool completely. Once cooled, wrap and chill overnight or for a minimum for 4 hours.
Once the custard is chilled, take the ramekins out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for around 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle around 1.5-2 tablespoons of sugar on each dish, making sure it’s properly covered with sugar. Using your kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar, it will turn hard and crispy. You can also do this step of melting the sugar in the oven, on broil.
Let the ramekins sit for 5 minutes and then top with graham cracker crumbs (as much as you like!).
Top with toasted marshmallows (broil or use torch), drizzle melted chocolate on top and serve with a stick of graham cracker.
Eat immediately! YUM!
* Chill the creme brulee for a minimum of 4 hours before serving. Overnight is best.
* Use superfine sugar on top of the creme brulee. If you have sugar which has large granules, you can give it a mix in your food processor.
* I used Ghirardelli chocolate, you can use any chocolate of your choice.
* The total time for this recipe does not include the chilling time.
S'mores Creme Brulee
Ingredients
For the creme brulee
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 5 egg yolks large
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
- 2 oz bittersweet chocolate optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground coffee optional
To garnish
- superfine sugar around 1.5-2 tablespoons per ramekin
- mini marshmallows toasted, as many as you want
- graham cracker crumbs as much as you like
- melted chocolate to drizzle on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F degrees.
- Separate eggs and place the yolks in a bowl. Eggs separate best when cold. Add granulated sugar to the bowl of egg yolks.
- Whisk for 2-3 minutes or till sugar is completely dissolved and mixture turns pale yellow. Set aside.
- In a pan, put heavy cream on medium heat.
- Once the cream heats a bit, add chopped chocolate.
- Mix till chocolate is completely melted and mixed with the cream. Bring the mixture to a light boil and remove from heat.
- Add the cream to the egg yolk-sugar mixture, little at a time, stirring continuously. This is important as we don't want to cook the eggs. So add the cream little by little and keep whisking.
- Once all the cream is incorporated, add in the ground coffee (optional) and mix.
- Strain the mixture to another bowl so that we get rid of any lumps/particles (if any).
- Divide the mixture equally among 4 ramekins.
- Transfer the ramekins to a pan and then fill the pan with boiling water till ramekins are half submerged in water.
- Bake at 300 F degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the custard appears set but still jiggles a bit. The deeper ramekins may take more time to set, these took 25 minutes.
- Carefully remove the ramekins from the pan and let them cool completely. Once cooled, wrap and chill overnight or for a minimum for 4 hours.
- Once the custard is chilled, take the ramekins out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for around 20-30 minutes.
- Sprinkle around 1.5-2 tablespoons of sugar on each dish, making sure it's properly covered with sugar.
- Using your kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar, it will turn hard and crispy. You can also do this step of melting the sugar in the oven, on broil.
- Let the ramekins sit for 5 minutes and then top with graham cracker crumbs (as much as you like!).
- Top with toasted marshmallows (broil or use torch), drizzle melted chocolate on top and serve immediately with a stick of graham cracker.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
S’mores Creme Brulee
