5-Ingredient Eggnog Crème Brûlée

Decadently delicious, eggnog crème brûlée makes the perfect ending for your Christmas dinner. It’s a luscious dessert of creamy custard with the rich flavor of eggnog hidden under a crunchy layer of brûléed sugar. It may look fancy, but with only five ingredients, it’s easier than you would expect. Even better, you can make it in advance and brûlée the tops just prior to serving.

The Easiest of Fancy Desserts

Crème brûlée is one of the first “fancy” desserts that I mastered in the kitchen. I put quotes on fancy because once you understand it, it’s not really that fancy at all. It may look fancy and be served in fancy restaurants, but really, it’s just a basic custard with torched sugar on top.

Don’t be intimidated by the idea of making custard. It’s a kitchen skill that you can easily master, and it’s the basis for things like pies, tarts, ice cream, and even a cooked version of homemade eggnog.

On my first attempt, I made a mess and curdled the eggs. Then I threw it all out, gave up and opened a bottle of wine. A few months later, with a lot more research and a little more experimentation, I finally got it right and shared my Lemon Crème Brûlée for Valentine’s Day.

Since then, I’ve made many versions of creme brulee, but the one I like best during the holiday season will always be this eggnog creme brulee recipe. It’s smooth and creamy, like any custard should be, but the hint of rum and nutmeg makes it taste like the holidays.

What You’ll Need

This fancy Christmas creme brulee calls for five simple ingredients: heavy cream, eggnog, egg yolks, white granulated sugar, and nutmeg. Creme brulee leans heavily on the fat content of the heavy cream to create the thick decadent texture, so don’t swap it out for a fat-free version.

Eggnog Recommendations

The best eggnog for eggnog crème brûlée is the kind of eggnog that you like. Seriously. Want to use Grandpa’s secret family recipe? You can. Prefer to use a non-alcoholic version? Go for it! Do you like the store-bought stuff? It totally works, too.

As long as the consistency of the eggnog is somewhere between that of 2% milk and half and half, it will work for this recipe. If yours is thinner, I’d question if it’s actually eggnog. If it’s thicker, you can thin it out with a splash or two of milk. It really is that flexible. If you haven’t found your ideal recipe for homemade eggnog, you can start here:

• House of Nash Eats – Non-alcoholic Eggnog (Cooked with just yolks – I used this one this year.)
• Gastronom – Tom & Jerry (The original warm eggnog with brandy.)
• Alton Brown – Aged Eggnog (High alcohol content, age for 4 – 6 months <– yes months.)
• The Chunky Chef – Blender Eggnog (Quick, not cooked, use pasteurized eggs or add alcohol.)

Recommended Kitchen Tools

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• Four 5 ounce or larger ramekins or custard cups
• 8×8 or 9×9 square baking dish (or the size needed to fit your ramekins or custard cups)
• mixing bowls
• liquid measuring cups
• whisk
• medium saucepan
• mesh strainer
• kitchen torch

How to Make Eggnog Creme Brulee

Making creme brulee is easier than you would expect for a fancy dessert. Here are the basic steps, but you’ll find more complete instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

• Preheat oven to 300ºF and prepare your pan. – Place ramekins in a baking dish and boil the water.
• Make the custard. – Whisk together sugar and egg yolks in a medium sized bowl until the sugar dissolves, it lightens in color and takes on a thick, creamy texture. In a medium saucepan combine eggnog and cream then heat over medium heat until bubbles start to form at the edge. Do not let it boil. Gradually whisk the egg yolk mixture with the eggnog cream. Adding the hot cream too quickly to the egg yolks will result in scrambled eggs.

• Transfer to ramekins. – Strain mixture into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, then divide the custard mixture equally into the ramekins.
• Create the water bath. – Carefully pour hot water into the pan until it’s half way up the side of the ramekins.
• Bake in the water bath. – Bake uncovered on a centered oven rack for 30 – 35 minutes or until centers are set.

• Cool completely. – Remove ramekins from the water bath as soon as you can safely handle them, to stop the cooking process. Cool to room temperature then refrigerate for a minimum of three hours.
• Finish and serve. – Cover each custard with white granulated sugar. Brulee the tops with a kitchen torch until the sugar is caramelized. Dust with nutmeg and top with optional sugared cranberries and serve immediately.

Brûléeing Eggnog Crème Brûlée

The secret behind making a successful creme brulee is creating that perfectly crunchy, caramelized sugar top. It should be thick enough to completely cover the creme, but thin enough that it cracks like glass when hit with the back of a spoon. It will crunch between your teeth without getting stuck, adding a fantastic textural contrast from the rich creamy custard.

There are many recipes out there that claim you can use the broiler in your oven to brûlée your crème brûlée. I’m not saying they are wrong, but whenever I’ve tried, I end up with uneven results, burnt spots, and even parts with raw sugar.

You know what’s easier? Getting an inexpensive kitchen torch and using it instead. You can find them on Amazon between $18 and $30, and once you own one, you’ll find many more ways to use it. I’ve linked to mine in the kitchen tools section above. Don’t forget to add the butane to your order, too!

When brûléeing with a culinary torch there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Don’t skimp on the sugar! You need a thin even layer to caramelize without burning the custard below.
• Keep the flame constantly moving. 
• Hold it close enough to touch the dessert, but not too close. 
• Most have a safety switch that will automatically turn them off when you release the button. If yours doesn’t, do not set it down while it’s still on. 
• If the sugar flames up, extinguish it before the whole dessert burns.
• Check out my Kitchen Safety tips, and keep a fire extinguisher handy, just in case.

Tips for Success

No matter how much I stress that eggnog creme brulee is an easy fancy dessert, there are always tips I can share to make it easier. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Start your boiling water when you start preheating your oven. This recipe comes together quickly and you’ll want the boiling water ready to make the water bath as soon as your creme brulees are ready to bake.
• Don’t rush the tempering process. Adding the egg yolk mixture to the eggnog mixture too quickly will turn the egg yolks into scrambled eggs. Gradually adding the hot eggnog mixture and whisking to temper between additions will prevent this.
• Adjust the baking dish size based on the size of your ramekins. Short, wide ramekins will take up more space in a baking dish than tall, skinny ones.

Serving Suggestions

One of the best parts about creme brulee is the satisfying crack when you break through that thick bruleed sugar topping for the very first time and bite into that cool, creamy custard. To achieve this, creme brulee should be served fully chilled with the tops bruleed just prior to serving. If you brulee the tops in advance, the moisture from the custard will cause them to soften as they sit, which doesn’t make for good creme brulee.

After bruleeing the tops of each custard, I like to dust them with nutmeg and add a sugared cranberry garnish. While the spice of the nutmeg adds an extra oomph of flavor, the sweet and tart cranberry helps break up the sweetness of the creme brulee and adds another crunchy element to your dessert.

Optional Sugared Cranberry Garnish

Sugared cranberries have become my favorite sweet treat of the season. As you can guess, there are many methods for making candied cranberries, and of course, I have my own, which you can find in detail in my Sugared Cranberries recipe post. They are not required, but they do add a pretty, festive touch when serving these for the holidays.

They are fairly simple to make and you’ll end up with candied cranberries, pink decorative sugar, and a cranberry simple syrup that can be used for cocktails, mimosas, holiday sodas, and more. You’ll want to start them a day or two in advance so that they have plenty of time to harden after soaking.

How to Store

Like most creme brulees, eggnog creme brulee will keep covered in the fridge for 2 – 3 days, or can be stored in the freezer for 2 – 3 months.

When frozen, allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge for the best texture. DO NOT THAW IN THE MICROWAVE OR HOT WATER. For freezer storage, you can wrap the individual ramekins in aluminum foil or make the crème brûlée in lidded, freezer-safe glass canning jars.

Yes, eggnog crème brûlée can be made in advance; in fact, it tastes better if you let it sit in the fridge overnight. However, do not brûlée the tops until just before serving.

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5-Ingredient Eggnog Crème Brûlée

Decadently delicious, eggnog crème brûlée makes the perfect ending for your Christmas dinner. It's a luscious dessert of creamy custard with the rich flavor of eggnog hidden under a crunchy layer of brûléed sugar. It may look fancy, but with only five ingredients, it's easier than you would expect. Even better, you can make it in advance and brûlée the tops just prior to serving.

4.6 stars (57 ratings)

prep: 20 minutes minutes

cook: 30 minutes minutes

total: 50 minutes minutes

servings: 4 servings

author: Renee N Gardner

Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

Eggnog Custard

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup eggnog

Crème Brûlée Topping

• 5 TBSP white sugar – divided
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 16 – 20 candied cranberries (optional – see notes)

Instructions

• Heat oven to 300ºF. Boil water for the water bath, preferably in a tea kettle for easy pouring. Place four 5 ounce ramekins into a 8×8 or 9×9 square pan. 
• Separate egg yolks from the whites, reserving the whites for another recipe. Whisk together sugar and egg yolks in a medium sized bowl until it lightens in color and takes on a thick, creamy texture.
• Heat cream and eggnog over medium heat until bubbles start to form at the edge. About 5 minutes. Stir occasionally and do not let it boil. 
• Temper the egg yolks by slowly adding about 1/2 cup of the warmed eggnog and cream into the egg yolk mixture, while whisking constantly. Once incorporated repeat with another 1/2 cup of warm eggnog and cream. Then add the egg yolk, eggnog, cream mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining eggnog and cream. Adding the hot cream too quickly to the egg yolks will result in scrambled eggs.
• Strain mixture, preferably into a large measuring cup with a pour spout. Discard any lumps of cooked egg from the strainer.
• Divide the custard mixture equally into the ramekins. Create the water bath by pouring the boiling water into the pan until it's half way up the side of the ramekins. Careful not to pour water into the custard.
• Bake in the water bath for 30 – 35 minutes or until centers are set. To test lightly jiggle the pan. The centers should jiggle like jello. 
• Remove from the water bath as soon as you can safely handle them, to stop the cooking process. Cool to room temperature then refrigerate for a minimum of three hours.
• Cover each custard with 1 1/2 teaspoons of white sugar, adjusting for ramekin width if needed. Brulee the tops with a kitchen torch until the sugar is caramelized. Dust with nutmeg and top with optional sugared cranberries.

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Notes

To make Candied Cranberries:

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and half a cup water in a small pan. Heat over medium flame until sugar melts. Add 12 oz of cranberries, cover, remove from flame and allow to cool one to two hours. Pour cranberries and syrup into an airtight container and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Strain the cranberries from the syrup (save the syrup for cocktails, cranberry mimosas, homemade sodas, etc).

Place 1/2 cup of sugar in the bottom of a small dinner plate. Pour on the strained, but still sticky cranberries. Top with an additional 1/2 cup of sugar. Stir with a spoon to coat, then move sugar coated cranberries to a clean plate and dry, uncovered, in the fridge, about an hour. The pink sugar can also be dried out and reused for other festive holiday treats. Candied cranberries with their crunchy sugar coating will last for a week or so in the fridge as long as they are uncovered. 

Nutrition

Serving: 5ouncesCalories: 374kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is for general information purposes only. For the most accurate information, calculate using your select brands and exact measurements.

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