Crème brûlée is definitely one of my favorite desserts. I know I say that about everything but crème brûlée is just so simple, yet so ingenious. First I thought maybe I was going to butcher a classic by mixing cupcakes and crème brûlée, but after tasting, I can safely say that isn’t the case. Definitely not. However, I do wish that the light had stayed a little longer. I was able to shoot for 10 minutes before I had to crank my ISO all the way up to 4000. Yikes. So frustrating! hence the lack of photos. Spring and summer can’t come fast enough, even if I do enjoy the coziness of this season.. On another note, I used the orange rum vanilla sugar from my previous post for sprinkling and it gives just the right amount of extra flavor to that crispy, caramellized topping. So good!
![orange rum vanilla sugar from my previous post](http://<img class="alignnone wp-image-1944 size-full" src="https://www.callmecupcake.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/cupcakeslo_0726.jpg" alt="Crème brûlée cupcakes" width="850" height="1296" />){kind=link}
So this might be my last post of the year. We’ll see. If it is, I’d like to wish you a all Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! These cupcakes are kind of perfect for both Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I know I’ll be making them!
Crème brûlée cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
The fluffy inside of these vanilla cupcakes goes perfectly with the creamy and crunchy topping. Also, you need a kitchen torch for this recipe!
INGREDIENTS
VANILLA CUPCAKES
- 100 g (1 scant stick) butter
- 2 eggs
- 140 g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla bean powder (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- 120 g (3/4 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp.) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp milk or half & half
CRÈME BRÛLÉE TOPPING
- 300 mL (1 1/4 cups) heavy cream
- 135 mL (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3 egg yolks
- 55 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- Demerara sugar, for sprinkling on top
INSTRUCTIONS
VANILLA CUPCAKES
- Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Prepare a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- Melt butter and let it cool.
- Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until very light in color and texture, about 2-3 minutes.
- Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Gently stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Add melted butter and milk and stir very gently until batter is smooth.
- Divide the batter among the liners, filling no more than 2/3 full (you might have enough batter to make another cupcake).
- Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely.
CRÈME BRÛLÉE TOPPING
- Prepare a cold water-/ice bath in a large baking dish or the kitchen sink. Combine cream and milk in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean and add seeds and bean to the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture is hot but not boiling. Remove from heat.
- Whisk together the yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Pour the hot cream mixture over the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Remove the vanilla bean.
- Return mixture to the saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. It should become quite thick, almost like softened whipped butter (if you think it feels too loose, keep going for a few more minutes). Do not let it boil or it will curdle. Put the saucepan in the water bath, stirring often until it custard is completely cool. Transfer the custard to a bowl. Cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap to avoid a skin from forming and store in the fridge until thickened. The custard should hold its shape fairly well on the cupcakes but will still be on the soft side.
- Spread or pipe custard onto the cupcake bases. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and burn with a kitchen torch (make sure not to burn the paper liner!). Sprinkle another layer of demerara sugar on top and burn again. Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve!
Such an amazing idea to make crème brûlée cupcakes! They look absolutely gorgeous and delicious! Have a wonderful end of the year dear Linda!
Ah, brilliant! This idea is so great and your photos are as captivating as ever. So inspiring!
I hear you… shooting in this winter light can be beautiful, but finicky! Still, these photos came out absolutely gorgeous 🙂
These look delicious! I am always looking for an excuse to use my kitchen torch!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com
These are SO gorgeous!!! What an amazing idea! This might be the motivation I need to actually figure out how to use the kitchen torch I bought over a year ago hehe 😀
mmm they look so delicious!
love
Karlien
God jul och Gott nytt år! Hoppas ni får fina helger!
My husbands favorite dessert is crème brulee!! He will be so happy to try these and his birthday is coming upppp! Thank you 🙂
I came here from instagram. Such amazing photographs on this site! Keep up the good work.
Thank you for the recipe! I’ve made these cupcakes for the family New Year’s celebration and everyone really enjoyed this dessert 🙂 adding creme brûlée is such an interesting idea! I’d never imagined a combination like this! BTW, happy New Year! Wishing you inspiration, happiness and more travels! Thank you for your stunning blog! 🙂
Dear Linda, my daugther found your blog just for fun…
I was speechless at first look, the photos, the recipes, are fantastic, you are a good pastry chef, i will bookmark your blog to do some of your recipes. (have you got italian roots?)
I hope you will have a look to my little blog. ciao ;O)
Brûléed cupcakes, why hasn’t anyone thought of that before? Leave it to you to make the magic, and in 10 minutes!! 🙂 These look so very good, I need to make them asap!! I hope you had a beautiful New Years! Hoping to see you sooner than later in 2017 🙂
xx
Omg. This is like a dream I didn’t know I had and now it’s come true <3 will definitely try these.
Ps. Beautiful photos! ^^
Thank you so much Rebecca 🙂
I’ve made these cupcakes and everyone really enjoyey this dessert. So do you think I also can bake a cake with the same recipes?
Beautiful photos!!!:)
Yay, so glad you liked them!! You can definitely use this recipe to make a cake, but if you were to make several layers I imagine the topping wouldn’t hold up as it isn’t super firm. Let me know how it goes if you try!!
What if i dont have a torch? Any alternative?
Unfortunately not :-/
. . . perhaps making some foil ‘collars’ for the cupcakes, and then using the broiler?
One WOULD, of course, have to be quite careful to use such a process?!?
What do you think?
Well, I guess it’s worth a try! I’d be concerned about the muffin drying out and the topping melting and running down the sides.. And also, think about which kind of paper you’re using. I think the ones I used can take temperatures up to 200°C only! A little fire in the oven would not be so fun 😉 But I’d love to know if anyone gave it a try!
Ah, that’s what you meant with foil, collars.. no?