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Irish Cream Crème Brûlée

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Irish cream crème brûlée is stunning and is the perfect holiday dessert – luxuriously smooth and creamy custard, perfectly crunchy caramelized sugar on top, slightly delightfully boozy. What many don’t realize is it’s surprisingly simple to do too. Serve it at your next get-together and spend more time enjoying the party than being cooped up in the kitchen.

Irish Cream Crème Brûlée

I love this time of the year. It can get hectic though with all the parties and the baking and the shopping and did I mention the baking?

Which is why I love recipes that you can make ahead and finish up when you’re just about ready to serve. Because there’s really nothing sadder than being stuck in the kitchen away from all the fun and festivities (and wine).

This Irish cream crème brûlée is one of those recipes. It’s a very simple recipe which you can prep the day before. The best part? It looks and tastes like it took hours and hours to prepare. Ready to impress?

Fresh eggs and baking

Irish Cream Crème Brûlée

I use a lot of eggs when I’m baking and using grade A, high quality ones are very important. The quality of your baking ingredients can spell the difference between an okay dessert and a remarkable one! It’s great that eggs here in Canada travel from farm to kitchen in less than 5 days (impressive, eh?) so I’m sure they’re always fresh and high quality.

This Irish cream crème brûlée is an example of a recipe where high quality ingredients matter. With only 5 ingredients – eggs, cream, vanilla, Irish cream and sugar – I’d suggest you get the best ingredients you can get your hands on! There is really nothing to hide behind.

Got extra egg yolks?

Irish Cream Crème Brûlée

Some recipes don’t use the whole egg though. Some just need the whites, some just the yolks. And over time I’ve built a collection of recipes that only use one or the other (there is no egg wastage in our house!). And this Irish cream crème brûlée is a great way to use those extra egg yolks.

Some of my other egg yolks only recipes include:

And each one has the same kind of richness and decadence that egg yolks bring. Using only egg yolks in this crème brûlée results in a texture to-die for. It’s smooth and luxurious and melts in your mouth.

Irish cream crème brûlée

The Irish cream on the other hand gives this crème brûlée a nice subtle boozy kick and a delightful flavour. It’s sweet but not too sweet. It’s the perfect end to a great holiday meal.

No blow torch? No problem

You can still make crème brûlée at home without a blow torch. Set your oven to broil (high) and put your well chilled custard in the oven (highest shelf) until the tops begin to caramelize (you have to watch carefully, don’t walk away!).

The caveat here is your caramelization may not be as even as you’d like. Regardless, it will taste delicious.

Stunning but surprisingly easy to make, Irish cream crème brûlée is the perfect holiday dessert!Click To Tweet

Enjoy the holiday season outside the kitchen

So go ahead. Serve this simple but exquisite Irish cream crème brûlée at your next get together and enjoy more of the holidays outside the kitchen.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by The Egg Farmers of Canada but all photos, words and opinions are mine. Follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more holiday ideas using fresh eggs. Thank you for supporting the brands and organizations that support me!

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Irish Cream Crème Brûlée

Irish Cream Crème Brûlée

Irish cream crème brûlée is delicately boozy, luxuriously creamy and has crunchy caramelized sugar on top. It’s the perfect holiday dessert.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (see notes)
  • 5 egg yolks (from large eggs), room temperature
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar + more for topping
  • 3 tablespoons Irish cream (I used Bailey's)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325F.
  2. Pour 2 1/4 cups heavy cream into a medium sized saucepan and put on low-medium heat for about 5 minutes without stirring. Do not allow the cream to boil. Once you see small bubbles appearing on the sides of the pan, take the pan off the heat and stir 1 teaspoon vanilla paste until well incorporated. Set this aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk 5 egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar until combined. Gradually add the hot cream and whisk continuously to avoid scrambling the eggs. Add 3 tablespoons Irish cream and whisk some more.
  4. Pour your mixture into 4 6-ounce ramekins. Put the ramekins into a deep baking dish or roasting pan. Pour hot water into the roasting pan until it covers about 3/4 up the sides of the ramekins.
  5. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the custard is set - firm but still wobbly in the centre.
  6. Take out of the oven and cool slightly before refrigerating for at least 3 hours (and up to 3 days).
  7. When you're ready to caramelize, take the ramekins out of the fridge and wipe off any condensation that may have accumulated. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar on top and tap around gently to make sure that the sugar is evenly distributed and that you have an even layer.
  8. If using a blow torch, melt the sugar until you get a nice crispy layer on top. Cool slightly before serving. If using the broiler, put your ramekins on a baking sheet and the baking sheet on the highest shelf of your oven. Broil on high until the sugar has caramelized. You may need to refrigerate again to cool the custard before serving.

Notes

You can use the same amount of vanilla extract - you just won't get those nice specks of vanilla beans in the custard. You can also opt to use 1 vanilla bean - cut in half, put in with the cream while you're heating it, then scoop out before you mix the hot cream with the eggs.

https://theunlikelybaker.com/irish-cream-creme-brulee/

Happy baking!

Did you make Irish cream crème brûlée? What are your favourite recipes that use extra egg yolks? Tell me about it in the comments section below. I’d love to hear all about it.

Here are recipes that only use egg whites:

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Comments

  4. This looks absolutely amazing and I think I’d like to have this every day. Not possible I know, but a girl can wish. Thank you for sharing this with us at Celebrate Your Story and have a great week.

    Reply

  5. I love a good make-ahead holiday recipe! And what a great idea to track your egg yolks vs. egg whites recipes – I’m always storing one or the other for a few days before tossing them because I can’t remember what I need them for…I’m a bad egg user. Next time I have yolks, creme brulee it is!

    Reply

    • Hi Liz! I always find myself planning ahead because I’m not quite sure how to store extra whites or yolks haha. And yes, this creme brûlée is the bomb if I say so myself. Happy weekend!

      Reply

    • Hi Marian! Thanks for sharing the recipe. And yes, I’ve become quite an expert on looking for recipes to use up “extra” ingredients. It’s quite fun actually 🙂 Hope you’re having a happy holiday season!

      Reply

  12. Creme Brulee is so elegant. I order it in restaurants, but I haven’t tried it myself. I am going to need a torch to try it. It doesn’t sound impossible. Quality ingredients is the key for any recipe.

    Reply

    • Hi Suchi! You should definitely try this. First, coz blow torch haha. And yes, tapping and cracking that top is so much fun 🙂

      Reply

  18. Over the weekend I had my first taste of Irish Cream. It was wonderfully delicious, and goes perfect with the holidays. I bet it’s amazing in this dessert!

    Reply

  21. I doubt I would attempt to make this–for one thing I can’t separate eggs to save my life! BUT–just let me at it–I’ll eat it all up very quickly and beg for more!

    Reply

  24. This looks positively yummy and would make a great holiday dessert! I’ve always been a little intimidated by creme brulee – think I might try this recipe out though.

    Reply

    • Hope you like it Francesca! It makes for a very impressive dessert. It’s our little secret that it’s quick and easy 🙂

      Reply

    • Thanks for the pin! Appreciate it 🙂 Hope you get to make this over the holidays, it’s perfect for when you have company.

      Reply

  39. I love the holidays too, especially the baking part. I was baking a lot this past weekend, which meant that I got to sample a lot of things….hehehe….quality control, right 😉 ?
    I love desserts that take minimal effort, but looks like I’ve been in the kitchen all day and this looks perfect! Love the addition of Bailey’s (such a Christmas drink, isn’t it?). Great tip about broiling! Happy Monday to ya, Jolina!! P.S. How are you liking TWD this season?

    Reply

    • Hi Dawn! Yes, of course, we gotta have quality control 🙂 Especially around Christmas haha. Oooooh TWD. Did you watch the mid-season finale? Now the waiting game starts again. I’m all sweaty and nervous when I watch that show. And I don’t think I breathe properly lol. Hope you’re having a happy week!

      Reply

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