Creme Brûlée is such a luxurious dessert. Smooth, creamy custard sits beneath a caramel-scented, crackly crust of burnt sugar, in a perfect balance of textures. While most creme brûlée is flavored only with vanilla (which I love), my sister decided to enhance this recipe with the floral notes of lavender. The Lavender Creme Brûlée, while not common, turned out to be addicting. The light notes of lavender are a perfect complement to the rich sweetness of the custard.
Having visited a lavender farm in Washington this summer, I’m looking for all the culinary ways to let lavender shine. This is a perfect use – not too overpowering, yet not too subtle. The final result is still undeniably creme brûlée, just…elevated. If you’ve been looking for ways to incorporate edible flowers into your cooking, this is the perfect place to start.
What is Creme Brûlée?
Creme brûlée, invented in 17th century France, is an intimidating dessert often reserved for ordering out at a restaurant. But it doesn’t have to be. When it comes down to it, it’s just a mix of cream, eggs, and sugar. These components are combined and baked into a creamy custard. The trickiest part to creating the perfect creme brûlée is keeping the custard smooth, with no “scrambled eggs.” This is accomplished through a process called tempering.
Tempering is the process of slowly heating up an egg mixture, so that the eggs fully incorporate into the liquid and cook slowly, instead of scrambling immediately. Think of it this way: if you were to pour beaten eggs directly into a pot of boiling water, you’d get something similar to egg drop soup! This is what we want to avoid when crafting a smooth custard. To do this, small amounts of hot liquid (in this case cream) are slowly poured into the egg mixture, while the mixture is vigorously whisked. Continuing this process over time allows the eggs to be heated slowly, keeping the final custard soft and smooth.
About the Lavender…
So when does the lavender come into play? The edible lavender is steeped in the hot heavy cream as it simmers. Then, once the custard is tempered together, the liquid is strained and the lavender is discarded. This keeps the creme brûlée from having an overpowering lavender flavor and woody blossoms throughout the custard. Steeping the lavender in the cream, similar to tea, laces the cream with a light lavender scent, perfect for complementing the intense sweetness of the sugar crust.
The amount of lavender you use can be adjusted based upon how strong or delicate you’d like the lavender flavor to be. Even just a touch of lavender still gives an unexpected floral note that elevates the dish.
Be sure that you are using “edible” or “culinary” lavender when you are making this recipe (or any recipe with flowers). Some lavender may be chemically treated during growing or processing for use in spa items like soap and bath salts. It’s good to double check that the lavender you use is meant for eating.
I got my lavender from Purple Haze Lavender Farm (not sponsored), a beautiful farm in Sequim, Washington that I visited with my family this summer. We visited Purple Haze on our way back from a trip to Olympic National Park and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Here, we were able to pick our own lavender from their beautiful fields, taste lavender ice cream, and shop for a plethora of lavender infused, scented, or themed items in their shop.
Looking for other fun desserts? Try these:
Lemon Ricotta Muffins with Vanilla Crumble
Clementine Olive Oil Cake with Whipped Rosemary Mascarpone Cream
No-Churn Brown Butter Peach Crisp Ice Cream
Time for the best part – finishing the Lavender Creme Brûlée
Okay, so the custard is tempered and ready to go – now what? It’s time to bake the custard in individual ramekins. It’s best to bake the ramekins in a water bath (in a large dish filled part-way with water) for more even baking. However, it’s very important not to let any water pour or splash into the ramekins, as this will affect the custard.
When the custard is just set, they’re done! Now for the hard part – waiting for them to cool. Although you can technically eat these at any temperature, you’ll get the best crackly-crust-creamy-custard experience if you allow them to cool and then chill in the refrigerator.
When its time to serve, dust the tops with granulated sugar and use a kitchen torch to brûlée them until golden and bubbling. Once the crust has cooled, its time to dig in. The floral, smooth, decadent custard combined with the toasty, crunchy sugar crust really does make for the perfect bite.
I hope you love these Lavender Creme Brûlées as much as I do! If you make this recipe, leave a comment and let me know what you thought or feel free to ask a question! I’d also love to see what you made! Tag me in your food pics @fortheperfectbite or use #fortheperfectbite on Instagram.
Lavender Creme Brûlée
Equipment
- 8 six oz. baking ramekins
- kitchen torch
Ingredients
- 8 large egg yolks
- ¾ cups sugar
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 1 tbsp + ¾ tsp edible dried lavender
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320°F.
- Whisk the egg yolks, ½ cup of sugar, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
- Heat heavy cream and ¼ cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the lavender to the cream and let this mixture come to a slight simmer along the edges of the pan. Do not let the cream boil.
- Once bubbles begin to form along the edges and the surface is steaming, remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Slowly stream in about ¼ cup of the heated cream to the egg yolks, whisking vigorously.Repeat with another ½ cup of cream.
- Add the warm yolk mixture into the saucepan with the cream, stirring constantly, and whisk vigorously to combine.
- Pour this custard through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl. Discard the lavender pieces.
- Ladle the custard evenly among 8 (6 oz.) ramekins.
- Place the ramekins in a deep roasting pan and place them in the oven on the second to lowest rack.
- Pour hot water into the roasting pan until the water reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins, being careful not to pour any water into the actual ramekins.
- Bake at 320°F for approximately 1 hour, or until the creme brulée is set and the centers only tremble slightly when shaken. If after an hour, the creme brulée is still not set, increase the heat to 350°F for another 10 minutes or so, keeping an eye on them.
- Let the creme brulée come to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and placing in the refrigerator to chill for at least 3 hours (or overnight).
- With a kitchen torch, brûlée the tops and serve.
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