My favorite latte in crème brûlée form, this Earl Grey infused dessert uses only 6 ingredients and is as decadent as can be. Inspired by London Fog Lattes, I'm infusing this one with a touch of lavender.
Custard vs. Pudding
Crème brûlée is a custard with a caramel crust on top. I am often asked the difference between custard and pudding, so here goes:
Both: Sweetened milk or cream base. Refrigerated to complete setting.
Custard: Thickened with eggs cooked slowly in the oven in a water bath.
Pudding: Thickened with a thickening agent like cornstarch, flour, or arrowroot powder. Cooked on the stove.
Check out my recipes for dark chocolate pudding and matcha pudding (dairy-free)... you won't want to miss them!
Step-by-Step Recipe
You will need the following ingredients: heavy cream, egg yolks, dried lavender, Earl Grey tea bags, vanilla or vanilla extract, and caster sugar. (Affiliate links open in a new tab.)
You will also need the following equipment (links open in new tab):
Heat the oven to 320°F.
First, slice the vanilla pod lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and put the seeds and bean in a saucepan with the cream, OR add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Also add the tea bags and lavender.
Next, bring to a simmer. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from heat and remove the vanilla pod. Cover and let the tea and lavender steep for 15 minutes.
Beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy in a bowl you can use in a bain-marie (glass bowl that fits over a sauce pan filled with simmering water).
Next, strain the tea bags and lavender out of the cream and add it to the egg yolk and sugar mixture.
Over a bain-marie, heat the cream mixture stirring constantly until it coats the back of a spoon (170°F), ~8 minutes.
Then, divide the mixture between 4 ramekins. Place the ramekins in a deep roasting tin. Fill the tin half-full with boiling water. Place it in the oven and cook 20 minutes.
Next, remove from the oven. Remove from the water to stop them from continuing to cook. Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator and cool overnight.
Note: Before serving allow the crème to come to room temperature for 20 minutes before you brûlée the tops. This helps the sugar melt evenly as you torch the tops.
If you have a brûlée torch, add a covered layer of fine caster sugar and shake off the excess into the next ramekin. Gently move the flame around to evenly melt the sugar.
If you do not have a torch, heat the broiler to high. Add a covered layer of icing sugar and shake off the excess into the next ramekin. Then, place under the grill. WATCH CAREFULLY! Let cool before serving.
Note: Caster sugar is the sugar of choice for crème brûlée because it is fine and will melt more evenly than coarse sugar. If you do not have caster sugar, you can run granulated sugar in a food processor to break it down.
If You Like This Recipe...
Then you'll love some of these other custard and London fog infused favorites:
- Matcha Crème Brûlée
- London Fog Gelato Ice Cream
- London Fog Latte with Lavender
- Earl Grey Hot Chocolate with Lavender Whipped Cream
Or check out all the sweets on the blog here.
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Earl Grey Crème Brûlée
Equipment
- Deep sided roasting pan
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 Earl Grey tea bags
- 375 mL heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon dried lavender optional
- 5 room temperature egg yolks
- 25 g caster sugar plus more for the brulee top
Instructions
- Slice the vanilla pod lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and put the seeds and bean in a saucepan with the cream, OR add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Also add the tea bags and lavender.
- Bring to a simmer. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from heat and remove the vanilla pod. Cover and let the tea and lavender steep for 15 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 320°F.
- Beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy in a bowl you can use in a bain-marie (glass bowl that fits over a sauce pan filled with simmering water).
- Strain the tea bags and lavender out of the cream and add it to the egg yolk and sugar mixture.
- Over a bain-marie, heat the cream mixture stirring constantly until it coats the back of a spoon (170°F), ~8 minutes.
- Divide the mixture between 4 ramekins.
- Place the ramekins in a deep roasting tin. Fill the tin half-full with boiling water. Place it in the oven and cook 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Remove from the water to stop them from continuing to cook. Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator and cool overnight.
- When ready to serve, take them out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before serving so they come to room temperature.
- BRULEE: If you have a brûlée torch, add a covered layer of fine caster sugar and shake off the excess into the next ramekin. Gently move the flame around to evenly melt the sugar. If you do not have a torch, heat the broiler to high. Add a covered layer of icing sugar and shake off the excess into the next ramekin. Then, place under the grill. WATCH CAREFULLY! Let cool before serving.
I’ve made creme brûlée’s so many times but couldn’t find my earl grey recipe so I used this one, it was a bad idea. I ended up with a horrible eggy mess, completely inedible.
Hi Bee. I'm so sorry you had a bad experience with this recipe! Something that can make creme brulee eggy is by adding too warm of a liquid to the egg mixture. This will create a scrambled egg nightmare. Given the amount of times I've made this recipe, I can't think of any other reason to have an eggy mess. Is it possible this is something you did?