Low-Fat Creme Brulee
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 9, 2011
Time
1¼ hours, plus 2 hours cooling and 4 hours chilling
Yield
Serves 8
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You will need eight 4-ounce ramekins and a kitchen torch for this recipe. For a more substantial crust, turbinado or Demerara sugar can be substituted for the granulated sugar.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine half-and-half, milk, 1/3 cup sugar, vanilla seeds and pod, and salt in large saucepan. Whisk egg yolks and cornstarch in bowl until combined, then whisk into half-and-half mixture. Bring half-and-half mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Place chopped white chocolate in large liquid measuring cup and strain half-and-half mixture through fine-mesh strainer on top of chocolate. Whisk until completely smooth.
- Bring 2 quarts water to boil. Place kitchen towel in bottom of roasting pan and arrange eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) on towel. Divide custard mixture evenly among ramekins. Carefully place pan on oven rack and pour boiling water into pan until water comes halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until custard is just set and center registers 170 degrees, about 30 minutes (about 20 minutes if using shallow fluted dishes).
- Carefully transfer ramekins to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Refrigerate, covered, until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.
- Uncover ramekins; if condensation has collected on surface, blot gently with paper towel. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar evenly over surface of each custard. Caramelize sugar with torch until deep golden brown (see related instructions). Let stand 5 minutes. Serve.
Time
1¼ hours, plus 2 hours cooling and 4 hours chillingYield
Serves 8Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
For our recipe for Low-Fat Crème Brûlée, we swapped the heavy cream for a combination of whole milk and half-and-half and reduced the egg yolks to limit the overall fat and calorie count. Protein in the yolks helps traditional crème brûlée set up into a velvety consistency. Since we reduced the amount of egg yolks, we turned to other thickeners, settling on cornstarch, which made for a thicker custard impervious to the heat of the torch.
Tasters complained that without cream, the custard lacked the proper velvety feel. Remembering that we’ve used white chocolate to help fortify baked goods like cheesecake, we found that adding a few ounces here brought a luxurious feel without too much fat.
Before You Begin
You will need eight 4-ounce ramekins and a kitchen torch for this recipe. For a more substantial crust, turbinado or Demerara sugar can be substituted for the granulated sugar.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine half-and-half, milk, 1/3 cup sugar, vanilla seeds and pod, and salt in large saucepan. Whisk egg yolks and cornstarch in bowl until combined, then whisk into half-and-half mixture. Bring half-and-half mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Place chopped white chocolate in large liquid measuring cup and strain half-and-half mixture through fine-mesh strainer on top of chocolate. Whisk until completely smooth.
- Bring 2 quarts water to boil. Place kitchen towel in bottom of roasting pan and arrange eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) on towel. Divide custard mixture evenly among ramekins. Carefully place pan on oven rack and pour boiling water into pan until water comes halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until custard is just set and center registers 170 degrees, about 30 minutes (about 20 minutes if using shallow fluted dishes).
- Carefully transfer ramekins to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Refrigerate, covered, until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.
- Uncover ramekins; if condensation has collected on surface, blot gently with paper towel. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar evenly over surface of each custard. Caramelize sugar with torch until deep golden brown (see related instructions). Let stand 5 minutes. Serve.
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