Blackberry Creme Brulee
This Blackberry Creme Brulee features a cool creamy blackberry custard topped with a caramelized sugar topping. It’s a flavorful dessert to make with summer-ripened berries and requires only 5 ingredients.
Servings 6
Ingredients
- 16 ounces (453 g) fresh blackberries
- 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 6 large egg yolks, room temperature
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar, for sugar topping
- fresh blackberries and mint leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Arrange six 4-ounce ramekins in a 2-inch deep baking dish. Set aside.
- Add blackberries to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Press the puree through a fine mesh sieve. Discard the pulp and seeds.
- Add the puree and cream to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until bubbles appear along the sides of the pan and the mixture is steaming. Stir in the vanilla and remove from heat.
- In a medium bowl, quickly whisk ½ cup (100g) sugar and egg yolks together.
- Slowly pour the hot cream into the yolk mixture while whisking continuously until well combined.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher or large liquid measuring cup. Pour the custard into the ramekins.
- Place the baking pan with filled ramekins inside the oven. Then, carefully fill the pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Bake 25-30 minutes, just until set. Start checking the custard early. Bake time will vary depending on the thickness and depth of your ramekins. The custard should be set and not soupy with only a small area of jiggle in the center.
- Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and allow the ramekins to cool in the water bath. Once the ramekins are cool enough to handle, remove them from the water, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days before serving.
- Just before serving, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar evenly over each custard, then immediately caramelize the sugar with a propane torch or broiler. Garnish with fresh blackberries and mint leaves.
Notes
- Remove the foam: When stirring to get the ingredients combined, you will likely incorporate air into the custard. This in turn will create foam. After straining the custard through a sieve, use a spoon to skim the foam off the top. If the foam is baked on top of the custard, it can inhibit the sugar from caramelizing properly.
- Water bath: The water bath will help the custard bake slowly and evenly. Take extra care not to get water in the custard. This will ruin it.
- Baking the custard: Timing can be tricky and will vary depending on the type of ramekin you use. I used shallow ramekins and they took about 25 minutes to bake. The custard is done when it jiggles uniformly from edge to edge when shaken gently.
- Make ahead: While the custard requires 4 hours of cooling time in the refrigerator, if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap you can make it 2-3 days in advance.