Low Sugar Crème Brûlée
Ah, crème brûlée. The delicious, decadent dessert you find on sooooo many restaurant menus. Notoriously difficult to make, unhealthy, but oh-so-yummy.
I love this pudding. Creamy, rich, sweet and silky, it is just the best way to eat custard in any form, and really feels like a treat.
And to be honest, you could find much sugarier options on a dessert menu.
But I couldn’t resist attempting to make it simpler and lower in sugar to make it something you could make at home and save yourself a good chunk of your sugar intake and quite a bit of money!
I was blown away by the results.
Obviously you cannot make a crème brûlée with a proper “crunchy” top without using some sugar. Nothing will caramelise and harden the way sugar does for that purpose. However, you do not need to use tablespoons of it on top and in the custard. In fact, I have successfully made a delicious, super creamy and sweet crème brûlée with a snap from the topping using only 1/2-3/4 tsp of sugar per portion. Since that is less than 1/6 of an adult’s daily recommended intake of sugar, and less than 1/3 of a child’s, I don’t feel bad at all about making this as a little after-dinner treat.
I was expecting it to be really difficult to make and to turn out wrong, but the truth is, if you follow the recipe closely, it is easy to nail first time. And the reward is an indulgent, luxurious, extravagantly creamy dessert with little sugar but tonnes of flavour. It has little hands on time (most of the time is cooking and chilling), and you don’t need a blowtorch, just a hob, oven and grill (broiler) or even grill setting on your oven – ie: what everyone has in their houses already.
So if you want people to think you are an excellent, super fancy chef without a load of equipment and effort, and prove to them that low sugar can still taste amazing, this is the recipe for you. They are currently tying with my low sugar profiteroles as my favourite recipe on the website, for good reason.
At less than 1 tsp of sugar per portion, these beautifully silky and delicious crèmes brûlée have less sugar than a cookie but are far more filling, satisfying and luxurious. Perfect for impressing guests, and easier than you think to make!
- 400 ml (1 and 2/3 cups) double (heavy) cream
- 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways
- 1-2 tbsp xylitol
- 4 medium egg yolks
- 2-3 tsp sugar
- fresh or frozen defrosted berries or cherries and fresh mint, to serve (optional)
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Preheat oven to 150C/300F/gas 2. Pour the cream into a saucepan and scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into it. Throw the pod in and heat the cream until it just starts to bubble. Take off the heat and allow to infuse for a couple of mins, then remove the vanilla pod.
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Whisk the xylitol and egg yolks together in a bowl, then slowly pour in the hot cream, whisking the whole time, until the mixture is smooth and combined. Pour the custard into a large jug through a sieve, then pour it into 4 ramekins.
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Place the ramekins in a large roasting or casserole dish, then pour hot water into the dish until it reaches halfway up the outside of the ramekins. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 mins, until the custard is just set but still has a slight wobble when you shake it gently. Take them out of the hot water and leave them to cool for a few mins until you can pick them up comfortably with your hands. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour (or overnight if you want to make them a day ahead).
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Sprinkle 1/2-3/4 tsp sugar over each ramekin to give each custard a very thin layer of sugar on top. Place the ramekins under a hot grill (broiler) until the sugar melts and starts to brown and bubble. Leave to cool and chill again for at least 10-15 mins. Serve the crèmes brûlée cold, on its own or topped with berries or cherries and fresh mint, if using.
