Espresso Martini Creme Brulee
Happy Birthday to meeeeee! This dish is an ode to my birthday and I’m celebrating by making one of my favorite desserts and combining it with my favorite cocktail, espresso martini creme brulee ! This dish is easy to make and will elevate any dinner. If you make this for anyone, they are sure to remember it. Although this dish may intimidate you, I promise its way easier to make than you may think!
Creme Brulee Key Ingredients
- Heavy cream and milk: Any custard begins with some form of cream!
- Egg Yolks: The egg yolks in this dessert act as a binder once they combine with sugar. Then once the yolk and sugar mixture is added to the cream, it thickens the cream into the custard texture.
- Vanilla: Typically crème brûlée’s have vanilla in the ingredient list unless flavored otherwise. Although this recipe is for an espresso martini, I still used a bit of vanilla to combat the bitterness of the espresso.
How to make a perfect Creme Brulee
While there’s technique into making almost ever dish, this delicate dessert required patience and attentiveness. Making a great custard is the most important part of making a creme brûlée. You must gently heat up your cream mixture along with your vanilla, pinch of sea salt, and any flavoring you may be using. Separately, you must whisk together egg yolks and sugar until it turns into a very pastel yellow color paste like texture.
Then, little by little, you must temper the eggs. Tempering is a process where you bring the temperature of the eggs up to the same temperature as the cream without cooking/scrambling the eggs. 1 ladle at a time, add in cream to the egg mixture and whisk vigorously. You’ll repeat this until about 2/3 of the cream is combined with the egg. You can now feel fully assured that the mixture is temperature.
You’ll return the mixture to the stove briefly until the mixture starts to thicken slightly and then strain it to ensure there’s no cooked eggs in the mixture. Now you can fill up your ramekins with the mixture and bake it on a relatively low heat in a water bath for about 45 minutes.
What is a water bath? And why do you need one for a creme brûlée ?
A water bath is when you bake something, usually something that needs to stay moist on the inside (a cheesecake, flan, creme brûlée). You place your baking dishes within a deeper dish and fill the deeper dish halfway to the brim with boiling water. This helps keep the dessert moist on the inside, but still able to set at the top. It also allows the dessert to maintain the same temperature, thus ensuring even cooking.
Espresso Martini Creme Brulee
Equipment
- 4 ramikens
- sieve
- Torch
Ingredients
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1½ cup whole milk
- 4 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
- 6 egg yolks
- ¼ cup sugar more for topping
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 4 tbsp espresso powder
- coffee beans for garnish
Instructions
- To a medium saucepan, combine heavy cream, milk, vanilla, salt, and espresso powder. Heat on low and allow to come to simmer. We are not looking to boil this mixture. If you end up burning this mixture, you will have to start over, as scorched milk, has a very distinct taste.
- To a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar and whisk until a pastel yellow paste forms.
- Once your cream mixture is at a simmer, begin tempering the eggs. 1 ladle at a time, add cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk vigorously. This is to combine the cream and the eggs but simultaneously prevent cooking of the eggs. Repeat this process until 2/3 of the mixture has been tempered.Return the mixture into the saucepan and heat until slightly thickened, whisking often, and being careful not to cook the eggs.
- Run the mixture through a sieve and then fill your ramekins. Place your filled ramekins in a water bath and bake at 320℉ for 45 minutes, or until dessert is set, but still slightly jiggly in the middle. Place at room temperate and allow to cool. Once fully cooled, place in the fridge for an hour.
- Sprinkle sugar on the top of the dessert and caramelize sugar with a torch and allow to cool and harden. Serve immediately and enjoy.