This rich and creamy orange creme brulee (or, more correctly, orange crème brûlée) is a stunningly delicious twist on a favourite French dessert. A creamy orange custard with a crunchy toffee topping, it’s totally scrumptious.
It’s truly a simple dessert to make and always so impressive. It’s so comforting, too, yet somehow light and a really special treat for family, friends or just for treating yourself.
Found on many a fancy restaurant menu, it’s easy to see why some think crème brûlée is difficult, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Once you realise how easy they are to make, you’ll be making them on the regular and trying new flavours like this chocolate crème brûlée, coffee crème brûlée or get even more fancy with this caramel crème brûlée tart.
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Ingredients
With just 6 basic ingredients and able to be made ahead, this orange creme brulee is perfect for dinner parties but easy enough to treat the family from time to time.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Oranges: I used blood oranges here because I love them but any will work. Cara Cara oranges, Navel oranges, Valencia oranges will all work perfectly. You can even try with tangerines or clementines.
- Egg yolks: You’ll only need egg yolks here but don’t worry, you can freeze egg whites or make a pavlova!
- Cream: You’re looking for a cream with around 35% milk fat. Don’t use reduced fat cream or it may have trouble setting. So look for thickened cream, heavy cream, whipping cream or pouring cream – just check the milk fat percentage on the side of the pack.
- Sugar: I prefer to use caster sugar (superfine sugar) here. It really doesn’t matter for the custard and you can just use white granulated sugar but for the toffee topping, caster sugar is easiest to brûlée.
- Vanilla extract: A little vanilla adds a balance here that’s lovely.
- Cardamom: This spice goes wonderfully with oranges however if you use too much it can give a soapy flavour so just a pinch is enough. It’s not a strong flavour in this creme brûlée and you can leave it out if you prefer. A little nutmeg could be used in it’s place as well.
How to make orange crème brûlée
One of the easiest desserts to make at home, this orange creme brulee takes very little effort but you’ll be rewarded with wildly scrumptious treat. Since the orange custards can be made ahead (even 2-3 days), they’re great for parties.
You will need to brûlée (torch the sugar topping for that satisfying crack) at serving time as it can soften and dissolve in the fridge over time so I recommend grabbing yourself a good kitchen torch for this. The upside is people love watching the drama and the anticipation of the creme brulee being torched so do that step in front of your guests and watch their mouths water.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Blend the sugar and zest
Massaging the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips releases the oils from the orange’s skin, intensifying the orange flavour at the end. Simply press it between your fingers until you have what looks like orange wet sand. Do this in the saucepan where you plan to heat the cream.
2. Heat and steep
Add the cream and cardamom, then heat the cream until it’s heavily steaming or until you just start to see the very first bubbles appear. Don’t bring it to a simmer though. Turn off the heat and cover with a lid to let the flavours steep and infuse (like steeping tea). Now reheat it to steaming point again.
3. Add to egg yolks
In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks until completely smooth (I count to 30 to be sure). In a slow, steady stream, add the hot cream while continuing to whisk gently. The point of adding the hot cream slowly is to temper the eggs – to gradually bring up their temperature without scrambling them.
4. Strain the custard
Now, strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a jug. This will remove that used zest and any eggy bits that may have scrambled (if you’ve done it right though, you shouldn’t have any of those).
5. Pour into ramekins and bake
Add orange juice and some fresh zest into your custard mixture. Sit 4-6 ramekins into a high sided tray then divide the orange custard equally between them (see more below about ramekin sizes and quantity).
Make sure to grate the zest super finely – no one wants to bite down on a big chunk of zest in the middle of their creamy brulee. I recommend using a microplane for this.
Add hot water (I pour it from a recently boiled kettle) up around the outside of the ramekins, pouring it directly into the tray to halfway up the side of the ramekins. Then simply bake in a low-moderate oven for about 45-50 minutes.
You’ll know your orange creme brulee is done when you give them a gentle wobble, and there is a ring around the outside that looks set while the middle has a jelly-like wobble (but it should not look like liquid). Once they’re done, take them out of the oven and cool them for ½ an hour before transferring the fridge. Remove them from the hot water in the baking tray immediately, but be very careful not to scald yourself. I wrap a tea towel around my open hand and, holding the rest out of the way with the other, grip the top of the ramekin tightly and lift it out onto a rack or my stone kitchen bench.
Chill your orange crème brûlées for at least 4 hours until cold through, and they’ve firmed up.
6. Brûlée the tops
I brûlée the tops in two steps. Add a teaspoon of sugar and tilt and gently shake the ramekins to give you an even layer. Tip away any excess sugar. Torch the top gently – at this stage, you aren’t looking for colour, just a thin layer of melted sugar. Now, add another teaspoon or so of sugar and shake it around the top again so that it’s even and torch that letting each part turn golden brown as you go.
Tips and tricks
- Use a microplane to zest your orange. If you don’t have one, don’t add the fresh zest called for at the end. Using a microplane means the zest has no distinguishable texture but it adds flavour. If you can only grate your zest larger, it will be more detectable in the end product and ruin the smooth creamy texture you’re after. You can use the zest at any size in the first steeping stage since that gets strained out.
- A water bath or bain marie is essential for the gentle, even baking creme brulees require but it’s not difficult at all. Sit your tray on the oven shelf then pour very hot water into the corner of the pan to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Just use a baking dish or tray with high sides, that is large enough to fit all of your ramekins inside it.
- Don’t use low-fat cream. You need full fat cream with around 35% milk fat and try to get a cream with nothing but cream. Some will have stabilisers added.
- Chilling time is essential. The crème brulee needs to chill to fully set for at least 4 hours, and overnight is even better.
- I don’t recommend using an oven broiler / overhead grill to caramelize your brulee tops. By the time the tops are caramelized the custard has heated up and will become almost soupy rather than a set cream. A good kitchen torch is a must for the best result.
Ramekins vary
Ramekin sizes vary wildly from a tiny ⅓ cup volume to up to 1 cup. The ones shown here have nearly a ¾ cup volume but I fill them to just over ½ of a cup in each. This batch will give you around 2 ¼ cups of custard.
The good news is, your orange creme brulees will work in whatever size ramekins you have, I’ve even used mini jam jars before for my coffee creme brulee, so the type or size is not essential for the baking side of things. What will change is how many you can make using the ramekins you choose
In even more good news, opening the oven early to check does not damage the creme brulees, so if you make yours smaller than mine (say you aim for 6 instead of 4), you can just check them a little earlier to see how they’re doing.
Storage
Your baked creme brulees need to be kept stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container or covered tightly with plastic wrap. Let them cool for a good while before covering so you don’t get evaporation dripping back onto the tops of your custards.
They’ll keep in the fridge for 2-3 days like this. Don’t brulee them until you’re ready to serve.
How to serve creme brulee
Crème brûlée (French for burnt cream) should be served still cool, with a perfectly caramelized crunchy toffee topping. Because of the contrasting textures within this beautiful French dessert, it stands on its own well. You can add some sides if you like, like crisp tuiles or soft homemade sponge fingers. For this orange version, I added some dried oranges to the side, but you really don’t need anything extra.
Definitely not dairy-free, but crème brûlée is a wonderful gluten-free dessert, so suitable for those on a GF diet.
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Ingredients
- ½ cup caster sugar (superfine sugar) (100g / 3.5oz)
- 3 teaspoons orange zest very finely grated (from 2 medium oranges)
- 2 cups thickened cream (heavy cream) (500ml)
- Good pinch ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 egg yolks from large eggs
- ¼ cup fresh orange juice
- Extra sugar for topping
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- microplane helpful but not essential
- whisk and spatula
- Fine mesh strainer
- pouring jug
- 4-6 ramekins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C (140C fan forced) / 320F. Place 4-6 ramekins (notes 3) in a flat bottomed baking tray with high sides.
- Place the sugar and just 2 teaspoons of the orange zest into a medium saucepan and use your fingers to massage them together. This releases the oils in the zest creating a more intense flavour.
- Add the cream, cardamom and vanilla to the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and allowing the cream to begin steaming heavily. Don’t let it boil. Remove from heat, place a lid on top and let it sit for 30 minutes (for the flavours to steep).
- Boil a kettle of water.
- Bring the cream back up to heat until bubbles just begin to appear around the edge of the pan. Remove from the heat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with a balloon whisk for 30 seconds.
- Place the bowl of eggs on a damp tea towel as you won’t be able to hold it, then, while stirring slowly with a whisk, drizzle the hot cream mixture slowly into the egg yolks. Make sure to pour slowly and continue stirring so the sudden heat doesn’t scramble the eggs.
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a pouring jug then stir in the orange juice and remaining 1 teaspoon of orange zest.
- Pour the custard mixture evenly into the ramekins.
- Pull the middle oven shelf outwards and place your tray of custards on top. Pour hot water (no longer boiling) from the kettle into the baking tray, around the outside of the ramekins to halfway up their sides.
- Very carefully push the shelf back into the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes (notes 4) or until the edges look set and the centres have a bit of a jelly (jell-o) wobble.
- Very carefully lift the ramekins using a tea towel wrapped around your open hand (make sure to grab them tightly so they don’t slip) and transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. Then chill for at least 4 hours or overnight, covering tightly with plastic wrap after an hour or so.
- When ready to serve, cover the tops in about 1-2 teaspoons of sugar, making sure no custard is showing. Use a kitchen blowtorch to caramelise the sugar, then serve.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Caster / superfine sugar (not powdered) is best as it will dissolve quicker. If you can only use regular white granulated sugar, just keep the heat a little lower so that it is mostly dissolved before it starts to bubble.
- If you can’t finely grate your orange zest, use it only before straining the mixture and don’t use the additional zest called for. A microplane is wonderful for getting really fine citrus zest.
- Ramekins: Different ramekins will required different baking times. See next note. Ramekins or jars should have at least ⅔ cup capacity.
- Baking time: As well as all ovens varying and how hot the custard was when you put it into the oven, the width and depth of your ramekins will alter the baking time required. I made 4 creme brulees here in taller style ramekins with just over ½ cup of custard in each one – these take about 45 minutes to bake. The flatter style dishes or smaller dishes may take slightly less. Larger dishes will take a little longer. There is no harm in opening the oven to check your creme brulee early at say 35-40 minutes if using smaller dishes.
- You’ll know they are done, when you give them a gentle shake and they have a slight wobble in the centre but not like there is liquid under the surface – think jelly (jell-o).
- Creme brulee can be made up to 3 days in advance without the brulee topping. Brulee them just before serving for best results or up to an hour before if you want to get ahead.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
FAQs
Crème brûlée is a French dessert of a soft yet set custard topped with a crunchy toffee topping. The name literally translates to burnt cream – the burnt part referring to the torched sugar coating.
Crème brûlée is a type of set custard and while the term custard is used for so many different versions of pudding made with eggs, sugar, cream and milk, a crème brûlée also has a crunchy toffee topping.
The secret is how easy they are to make. There really is no trick to making creme brulee. As long as you have the ratios correct, you really can’t go wrong.
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6 Comments on “Orange Creme Brulee”
Thank you so much for this very incredibly detailed recipe with the tips. So helpful!
I did make this and it came out incredible. Needed a larger portion so I used 600 ml heavy cream, 8 yolks and half cup of orange juice. Also I added a vanilla bean instead of essence and a splash of orange blossom water.
I didn’t have a microphone so I used the smallest side on a regular Grater which I think gave a similar consistency. Mine took about 40 minutes.
This recipe is a keeper.
I’m so happy you love it, Celeste. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.
I made this recipe yesterday…OMG, so good. When the cream was “steeping”, it smelled exactly like how a creamsicle tastes.
One thing I didn’t do was put the extra zest in with the juice after straining. I didn’t think it needed it. Very light and oh so delish!!!
I’m so happy you love it, Mark. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.
Hi, if I wanted to make this in a large oven dish (for a large gathering), would it be possible to pour all of the custard into one single dish and place it into a vessel with hot water and bake in the same way? Say, if I tripled the recipe, how long would it take to bake? Thank you.
I couldn’t say if tripling the recipe would work. I’d be concerned the outside would be too set while the middle wasn’t at all. You can certainly do just the brulee recipe in a large dish without the pastry though. As you suggested, place it into a water bath with water coming about 1/2 way up the sides of the dish and bake the same way.