Caramelized-Honey Chai Creme Brûlée
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Luxuriously silky smooth, infused with warm chai tea flavors and sweetened with caramelized honey, this dessert is a show-stopper!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Serves: twelve 3-oz ramekins
Ingredients
  • ½ Cup Honey
  • 1 Vanilla Bean
  • 3 Cups Heavy Cream
  • 1 Cup Milk
  • ¾ teaspoon Salt
  • 8 large Egg Yolks
  • 3 teaspoons loose leaf Chai Tea (I added star anise, cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks to mine as well) you can also use 3 teabags of your favorite chai tea.
  • Sugar for torching on top
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 300 F.
  2. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrap the seeds out with a knife into a large saucepan along with ½ cup honey. (You can place the vanilla pod in a container or bag of sugar to make your very own vanilla sugar)
  3. Cook the honey over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the honey begins to smell like its burnt. Don’t panic, this will bring out the caramel flavor in the honey.
  4. Slowly add the heavy cream and milk, while stirring constantly until mixture is smooth.
  5. Add the loose-leaf chai tea or tea bags. Scald the milk and cream. (you will see small bubbles on the edges)
  6. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and steep the tea for 5 minutes.
  7. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks and salt.
  8. Temper the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, stirring rapidly to prevent the egg yolks from cooking.
  9. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, preferably into a large measuring cup with a spout. This will make it easier to pour into the ramekins.
  10. Prepare a large baking dish or sheet pan to fit either 8 (6-oz) ramekins or 12 (3-oz) ramekins. Line with a dish towel before placing the ramekins in it to prevent them from sliding.
  11. Slowly pour in the caramelized-honey mixture into the ramekins, using a large spoon to prevent splattering or dripping as you go from one ramekin to another.
  12. Place the sheet pan onto the rack of your preheated oven and pour hot water into the sheet pan to come up about ¼-1/2-way up the ramekins.
  13. Bake 60-65 minutes for the larger ramekins and 30-35 minutes for the smaller ones. Set your timer for 10-15 less than the needed bake time and start checking the crème brulees by slightly tapping the edge with a dish towel. It should jiggle like Jell-O. Take into account also that they will also set a bit after you take them out of the oven. It is very crucial not to overbake crème brulees as your result will be a scrambled egg texture instead of a silky smooth one. Stay by your oven and check every few minutes until done.
  14. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and let the custards cool at room temperature for about an hour. Chill for at least 2 hours, or until firm. It is important to serve chilled custards because as you go to heat the sugar on top with a torch**, it will warm up them up.
  15. Right before serving, sprinkle the crème brulees with sugar to form an even layer. Shake some off if there is too much. Heat with a torch until the sugar melts and caramelizes to form a thin brittle crust and is a deep amber color. Break the sugar crust with a spoon to reveal a smooth custard underneath. This dessert is all about the contrast in textures of a brittle, almost burnt sugar crust against a rich, smooth custard. Bon Appetit mon ami!
Notes
*If you don’t have a vanilla bean, you can add vanilla extract along with the salt.
**You will need either a kitchen torch or borrow a blow torch from someone’s garage.
***I use Organic Cane Sugar which has larger sugar crystals and will melt slightly differently than regular white granulated sugar, which is easier to melt. The trick is to control the heat setting on your torch and adjust the distance of the sugar from the heat.
Recipe by Welcome 2 Our Table at https://www.welcome2ourtable.com/caramelized-honey-chai-creme-brulee/