Coffee Toffee Crème Brûlée
Luxuriously smooth and silky crème brûlée infused with rich toffee sauce and the toasty warmth of espresso!
Ingredients
Toffee Sauce:
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
Custard:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 5 egg yolks
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup toffee sauce (from recipe above)
- 6-7 teaspoons granulated sugar, for caramelizing
Instructions
Make the Toffee Sauce:
- In a medium saucepan, stir the brown sugar, honey, and butter over medium-high heat until mixture begins to boil and foam. Let the mixture bubble for 2-3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cream. Increase heat to medium and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the sauce is smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and cool. Sauce will thicken as it cools.
Make the Custard:
- Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Lay a kitchen towel along the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place six 4-5 ounce ramekins on top of the towel; set aside.
- Pour the heavy cream and espresso powder into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until it starts to simmer. Remove from heat; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla together until thick, pale, and forms a nice ribbon when you lift the whisk from the bowl. Gradually add the toffee sauce, whisking constantly as you pour.
- Gradually add the warm cream by whisking in about a half cup. Whisk in another half cup, then finally pour the rest of the cream in, stirring until smooth. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps that might have formed.
- Divide custard evenly among the six ramekins. Carefully pour enough hot water into the pan to come about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Set the pan on the middle oven rack. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the edges are set, and the centers jiggle when you gently shake the pan. You can also use a food thermometer to take the internal temperature. It should be 170ºF/77ºC.
- Transfer ramekins to a wire rack and allow to cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Place ramekins on a baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Just before serving, sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar evenly over each custard.* Use a small kitchen torch to caramelize the tops.
- Drizzle with remaining caramel. Add a dollop of whipped cream, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
*Make sure that you cover the ENTIRE surface of the custard with sugar. Otherwise, the direct heat will curdle any custard that’s exposed.
**BROILER METHOD: If you don’t have a kitchen torch, you can always use the broiler. After sprinkling the custards with sugar, just place them on a baking sheet on an oven rack directly under the broiler. Broil on high until caramelized, and keep a CLOSE eye on it.