Easy Crème Brûlée Recipe From “Le Cirque” (Only 5 Ingredients)

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Crème brûlée is a classic French dessert that is known for its rich, creamy custard and caramelized sugar topping. It’s one of my favorite desserts so I’m sharing an easy crème brûlée recipe. (Cheesecake and crème brûlée are actually “tied” as my personal favorite desserts!)

Easy crème brûlée recipe

Usually, when I write about dining out in NYC, I write about restaurants that I have actually visited. This week, I’m writing about one that I had added to my “must-visit” list…Le Cirque. I primarily added it because a friend shared their easy crème brûlée recipe with me.

I already knew that this French restaurant was constantly listed as one of the best restaurants in the world. It was praised for its “old school”, attentive service as well as its excellent food. I even liked that they had a dress code – “Ladies, dressy and elegant. Thank you.”

However, it was a friend’s recommendation that added Le Cirque to my “list”. She went there for her birthday and enjoyed everything immensely. Since we share similar food tastes, she sent me a picture of the bottom of her crème brûlée dish…which had the recipe on it. It’s not as difficult to make as you might think.

Crème brûlée recipe from “Le Cirque”

Credit: Crème Brûlée “Le Cirque” © (D. Schorner & F. Gutierrez 78)

Easy Crème Brûlée Recipe

Yield: Serves 8

Le Cirque's "La Crème Brûlée"

Easy Crème Brûlée - mom in the city

Easy French crème brûlée recipe.

Ingredients

  • 8 egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 8 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 quart heavy cream
  • 1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped

Instructions

  1. Warm up the cream, vanilla bean, and sugar till hot.
  2. Whisk in yolks.
  3. Pour into ramekins standing in a pan filled halfway with water.
  4. Cover with aluminum foil.
  5. Bake for 15 min. at 300°F.
  6. Chill for 3 hours.
  7. Sprinkle each custard with 1 tbsp of brown sugar.
  8. Top glaze with oven broiler or torch.
© Kimberly Coleman

Crème Brûlée Tips

Tips:

  • If you don’t have a kitchen torch, you can use a broiler to caramelize the sugar. Just be careful not to overcook the custards.
  • Serve the crème brûlée immediately after caramelizing the sugar so that the crust is crispy and delicious.
  • Don’t overcook the custards in the ramekins. They should be just set in the center.
  • Be careful not to over caramelize the sugar. You want a thin, golden-brown crust. The texture really does make a difference. (For instance, I love crème brûlée but I just can’t eat flan – even though the textures of the two dishes are very similar.)

Since crème brûlée is my favorite special occasion dessert, I want to go to Le Cirque for that French dessert alone. Obviously, the dish was delicious since we can see the recipe at the bottom of my friend’s dish! Unfortunately, Le Cirque New York has closed. I will have to wait until I visit Las Vegas to enjoy the restaurant.

If you like French food, you can still enjoy some Le Cirque dishes. You can find this recipe along with many others in their A Table at Le Cirque: Stories and Recipes from New York’s Most Legendary Restaurant cookbook that was released in October of 2012. Bon appétit!

I hope that you enjoy this easy crème brûlée recipe when you make it.

{Top post image credit: Canva.This post has been updated and republished. This recipe was originally posted on January 9, 2013.}

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