You might think by the fancy name creme brulee, that it’ll be hard to make, but that’s not true. The creme brulee recipe is actually very simple to make. But first you need to know what this French dessert name actually means and its origin.

ORIGIN OF THE CREME BRULEE

The French term Creme brulee (crème brûlée) translates to burnt cream in English. It is a French dessert that consists of a rich custard with hard caramelised sugar on top. Some might even say the texture is similar to a panna cotta.

This dessert goes all the way back to the 1600s. It was originally an inspiration for another dessert called the crema catalana but what differentiated them from each other was the hard caramelised sugar coating on top.

Traditionally, creme brulees are made with full heavy cream and vanilla pods. But as time goes by and different variations are made, there are many other flavours that can be experimented when making creme brulees.

MATCHA CREME BRULEE

Since creme brulee is already a sweet dessert, I thought to balance it out would be to add something a bit earthy and bitter. So I chose to do matcha flavoured creme brulee.

To make this matcha creme brulee light and not too heavy, I used a mix of heavy cream and milk in this recipe. The milk will lighten the mixture whilst the cream still makes the mixture creamy and luscious.

HOW TO MAKE MATCHA CREME BRULEE

To make the matcha creme brulee is similar to making a simple custard. We will first heat up the milk and the cream together in a saucepan. Then, before adding it to the yolk mixture, we will need to add the matcha powder and strain it to prevent clumps from matcha. Usually with custard, you cook down the mixture, but for creme brulee, it will be baked in a water bath. Water bath method keeps the mixture nice and soft, preventing unwanted burns.

Finally, to top it off, you will add a thin layer of sugar on top and torch it with a flame gun. The more sugar you add, the harder the top will be, it also won’t be as crispy and will be harder to break. You want the tops to still be breakable but hard enough to hold the creme brulee inside.

HOW TO SERVE THE MATCHA CREME BRULEE

After baking the creme brulee, you need to keep it cold in the fridge before adding the sugar on top. Before serving, you will then add the thin layer of sugar to the torch. It’s best to serve cold and a best dessert to end the day. So grab your flame gun and let’s get baking!

Some tips that might be useful:

• After torching the sugar, make sure to let it sit for at least 1-2 minutes to let the sugar crystals set and harden.
• Baking at low temperature prevents over-baking the creme brulee which can result in a curdled texture.