Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crème Brûlée
By America's Test KitchenPublished on February 4, 2021
Time
1 hour, plus 2½ hours cooling and 4 hours chilling
Yield
Serves 8
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You will need eight 6-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) for this recipe. Use peanuts in the Candied Nuts.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Place dish towel in bottom of large baking dish or roasting pan. Set eight 6-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) on towel. Bring kettle of water to boil.
- Combine 2 cups cream and granulated sugar in medium saucepan. Bring mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Off heat, whisk in chocolate and peanut butter until melted and smooth. Stir in remaining ¾ cup heavy cream and milk. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in large bowl until uniform. Whisk about 1 cup chocolate mixture into yolks; repeat with 1 cup more chocolate mixture. Whisk in remaining chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined. Strain custard through fine-mesh strainer into 4-cup liquid measuring cup; discard solids. Divide custard evenly among ramekins.
- Set baking dish on oven rack. Taking care not to splash water into ramekins, pour enough boiling water into dish to reach two-thirds up sides of ramekins. Bake until centers of custards are just barely set and register 170 to 175 degrees, 25 to 35 minutes depending on ramekin type, checking temperature 5 minutes early. Transfer ramekins to wire rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Set ramekins on baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.
- Uncover ramekins and gently blot tops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle each with 1 to 1½ teaspoons turbinado sugar (depending on ramekin type). Tilt and tap each ramekin to distribute sugar evenly, then dump out excess sugar and wipe rims of ramekins clean. Caramelize sugar with torch until deep golden brown, continually sweeping flame about 2 inches above ramekin. Rechill custards for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with candied peanuts before serving.
Time
1 hour, plus 2½ hours cooling and 4 hours chillingYield
Serves 8Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
We reinvented the classic French dessert by giving it a very American chocolate-peanut profile. We added ¼ cup of creamy peanut butter to our custard base in addition to 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, which made the custard chocolaty without adversely affecting the texture or obscuring the peanut butter flavor. We've found that the key to a soft, supple crème brûlée, rather than a bouncy one, is to use just egg yolks rather than whole eggs. We replaced a portion of the cream with milk to prevent the custard from becoming overly rich from the added fat from the chocolate and peanut butter. The traditional sugar crust provided a nice crunch against the creamy custard but we doubled down on the crunch for this new spin, topping the caramelized sugar with toasty, sweet-salty candied peanuts that reinforced the flavor of the peanut butter.
Before You Begin
You will need eight 6-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) for this recipe. Use peanuts in the Candied Nuts.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Place dish towel in bottom of large baking dish or roasting pan. Set eight 6-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) on towel. Bring kettle of water to boil.
- Combine 2 cups cream and granulated sugar in medium saucepan. Bring mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Off heat, whisk in chocolate and peanut butter until melted and smooth. Stir in remaining ¾ cup heavy cream and milk. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in large bowl until uniform. Whisk about 1 cup chocolate mixture into yolks; repeat with 1 cup more chocolate mixture. Whisk in remaining chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined. Strain custard through fine-mesh strainer into 4-cup liquid measuring cup; discard solids. Divide custard evenly among ramekins.
- Set baking dish on oven rack. Taking care not to splash water into ramekins, pour enough boiling water into dish to reach two-thirds up sides of ramekins. Bake until centers of custards are just barely set and register 170 to 175 degrees, 25 to 35 minutes depending on ramekin type, checking temperature 5 minutes early. Transfer ramekins to wire rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Set ramekins on baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.
- Uncover ramekins and gently blot tops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle each with 1 to 1½ teaspoons turbinado sugar (depending on ramekin type). Tilt and tap each ramekin to distribute sugar evenly, then dump out excess sugar and wipe rims of ramekins clean. Caramelize sugar with torch until deep golden brown, continually sweeping flame about 2 inches above ramekin. Rechill custards for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with candied peanuts before serving.
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