ByKouzounas Kitchen
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Lavender Creme Brulee & Earl Grey Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee Recipes

For you creme brulee fans out there, I have two recipes for you! One is a lavender-infused creme brulee, and the other is vanilla earl grey infused. My mom is the person I have to thank for teaching me how to make the perfect creme brulee. The texture is always amazing, the flavors are really good, and it always seems to come out perfect.

Tips: So I have a few tips to share from my mom Karen.

The Common Mistakes We Make

  • The custard is tepid, and not cold
  • The flavors are off
  • The custard isn’t creamy and falls apart
  • Cooked too long

Tips On The Perfect Creme Brulee

  • Use heavy cream
  • Do not overcook the custard
  • Use fresh vanilla bean
  • Use a kitchen towel to place on the bottom of the water bath, and place the ramekins directly on top
  • Demerara and turbinado are my favorite sugars to use to caramelize the tops.
  • Chill the custard until set. Normally I like to enjoy the custard the next day.

Lavender Creme Brulee Recipe

By Friends Of The Earth Lavender

Servings: 5

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of heavy cream
  • 1 whole vanilla bean split and scraped
  • 1/2 cup of white sugar, plus 6 tablespoons for sprinkling over the top
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon of dried lavender flowers

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Place 4 shallow oval 6- oz ramekins in a large baking pan lined with a kitchen towel. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; keep hot until ready to use.

2. In a small saucepan, add your dried lavender to the cream, heat the cream on medium, and add the vanilla bean and mix until the mixture starts to steam for about 6 minutes. Turn off heat. Make sure you strain out the lavender and keep your creme.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of sugar and the egg yolks until combined. Whisking constantly, slowly add hot creme mixture. Strain mixture into a clean bowl. Skim off any surface foam with a spoon.

4. Pour custard into ramekins. Carefully pour the boiling water into the baking pan until it reaches halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until custard is just set in the center when gently touched with your finger, about 35 minutes. Transfer ramekins to a wire rack to cool. Cover with a plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill completely, 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

5. Sprinkle sugar over the top of the ramekins, making sure it’s evenly distributed. Using a kitchen torch, pass the flame in a circular motion 1 to 2 inches above the surface of each until the sugar bubbles, turn amber, and forms a smooth surface. Serve immediately.

Earl Grey Vanilla Creme Brulee Recipe

Servings: 5

Same ingredients as the recipe above except replace the lavender with 2 earl grey tea bags.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place 4 shallow oval 6- oz ramekins in a large baking pan lined with a kitchen towel. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; keep hot until ready to use.

2. In a small saucepan, add earl grey tea bags to the cream, heat the cream on medium, and add the vanilla bean and mix until the mixture starts to steam for about 6 minutes. Turn off the heat. Make sure you strain out the lavender and keep your creme.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of sugar and the egg yolks until combined. Whisking constantly, slowly add hot creme mixture. Strain mixture into a clean bowl. Skim off any surface foam with a spoon.

4. Pour custard into ramekins. Carefully pour the boiling water into the baking pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the custard is just set in the center when gently touched with your finger, about 35 minutes. Transfer ramekins to a wire rack to cool. Cover with a plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill completely, 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

5. Sprinkle sugar over the top of the ramekins, making sure it’s evenly distributed. Using a kitchen torch, pass the flame in a circular motion 1 to 2 inches above the surface of each until the sugar bubbles, turn amber, and form a smooth surface. Serve immediately.

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40 Comments

  2. It looks soooo lovely! And it is as if you were reading my mind 🙂 I’ve been nagged for a while now to make creme brulee,and when I finally decided that Sunday would be the day I burn my kitchen,I saw your post.Good for me that I waited :)All the good advice will come to use.Thanks 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Kate
      Thank you very much for the wonderful comments. Oh creme brulee is my absolute weakness. Oh no you burned your kitchen? Is everything okay?
      Thank you for taking the time to stop by and I hope to see you make a tasty creme brulee soon. 🙂

      Reply

  4. They were delicious with a slight hint of lavender of course. And ff course I squeezed in some photography before they vanished. My only regret is that I did not have any fresh lavender to include in the photos to brighten them up. Next season!

    Reply

    1. Lovely!! I can share your photos on my blog if you like?

      Thank you for trying my recipe out!! You made my night. 🙂

      Oh and I just made a new batch of organic lavender vanilla sugar!! 🙂

      Reply

      1. Mmm… I made lavender sugar as well. If you think my photo is worthy of putting up on your blog, you may share it. (I was not too happy with my photos.. and hence no post on it, at least not yet). You can be the judge. How may I send you a photo?

  5. Pingback: Lavender Latte Love – Kouzounas Kitchen

      1. My husband loves creme brulee so I knew we needed to try this one and we finally did! My only regret now is not having harvested more lavender when I had the chance earlier this summer. Thank you so much!

    1. Hi,
      I get this question a lot! Really no such thing as culinary lavender. You can use any kind of lavender you like, except Spanish which is the decorative lavender. Most the time I use English lavender.

      Reply

      2. I have to say this is my moms recipe, and she corrected me on her first recipe. I did mention “culinary” lavender before, but I disagree with that term. I have cooked with 3 different varieties of lavender so far and they came out the same. I do know that there are over 150 varieties, but so far I don’t agree with culinary lavender. Maybe my thoughts will change down the line? Yes I am curious what kind of lavender you have.

      3. I planted the lavender in another pot that it came in, the type was on a sticker on the front of the pot and unfortunately it’s been thrown away and gone to the dump already. I had no idea there were so many varieties! My variety grows out to the side a bit and then straight up.

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