Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee
Easy chocolate crème brûlée recipe with milk chocolate - using less sugar, half and half (milk and cream) to lighten it up and without a water bath. Serve with passion fruit for a delicious flavour combination.
Equipment
- 5 shallow ramekins 4oz (9cm/120ml) x 3cm (1 inch) height
- kitchen torch optional but for best results, otherwise use grill/broiler
Ingredients
- 400 ml (14 fl oz/ 1 ½ cups) Light, half fat cream 15% fat (or 'half-and-half')
- 110 g (4oz) milk chocolate (good quality couverture, at least 35% cacao)
- 4 egg yolks organic
- 30 g (2 tbsp) granulated sugar (or caster sugar)
- pinch sea salt fleur de sel
For caramelising
- 4 tablespoon granulated sugar or brown cane sugar ('Cassonade' in France)
Instructions
- Preheat a cool oven to 120°C/250°F (100°C fan/Gas ½).
- Gently heat the cream and milk chocolate in a saucepan until the chocolate has just melted (don’t boil) and whisk until smooth. It should look like hot chocolate. Take off the heat.
- Stir the yolks, sugar and salt in a bowl until creamy. Pour the chocolate cream mixture over the egg mixture and stir until well combined.
- Pour into individual shallow ramekins and place on a baking tray. Cook gently in the oven for about one hour. Leave on the counter to cool, then chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge covered with cling film - even better, overnight.
- Just before serving, blot gently the surfaces with kitchen paper if there's any condensation from the fridge. Then sprinkle with the sugar, caramelise them quickly - preferably with a blowtorch (or 2 minutes under a very hot broiler/grill).
Notes
To serve: delicious served with passionfruit or fresh raspberries.
Chocolate: I use good quality milk chocolate for the texture and have cut down the sugar accordingly (it already includes sugar). You could replace with dark chocolate (or bittersweet chocolate) but it will change the texture. I do not recommend making this with white chocolate as it's too sweet.
Cream: Using just heavy whipping cream will make this too rich, so I've lightened it up with half and half (cream and milk).
Storage: The custards keep well, covered in plastic wrap, at least a couple of days in the refrigerator. Just torch the sugar crust before you're about to serve.
More Crème Brûlée recipes: for the full, basic vanilla recipe, flavour variations and where to find the best in Paris, see both my e-book and Master Crème Brûlée online course with a step-by-step video showing how to make it without a water bath and more.
Approximate nutritional information per serving: 22g fat; 32g carboydrates; 6g protein.
Nutrition
Calories: 323kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 6gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 184mgSodium: 59mgPotassium: 185mgFiber: 1gSugar: 30gVitamin A: 491IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 110mgIron: 1mg
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