Prepare to fall madly in love with creamy, decadent and mouthwatering, Lavender Creme Brulee. It is no doubt one of the easiest and most delicious desserts ever.
I feel like I haven't made Creme Brulee in ages. Looking back at the times, when I just started cooking and exploring recipes, Creme Brulee was one of my most cooked desserts.
You know why? Because it is the easiest and always comes out perfect. I became so obsessed with this decadent French dessert, that I even bought Creme Brulee set, which came in very useful.
Fast forward, several years later, I started a food blog and I felt like I must explore new recipes. Hence, my Creme Brulee set remains hardly used.
This summer, I found out that July is a time when lavender blooms at its peak. And luckily for us, one of the lavender farms was nearby, so we didn't think twice and one beautiful Saturday we decided to squeeze the lavender picking into our schedule.
I have to say, that the amount of joy me and my husband received from this fun activity was comparable to shopping for shoes (if you know what I mean:).
We were so excited to manually cut the flowers and put them into our bucket. It felt like I could stay there all day long, it was such a relaxing time.
That's why I'm pretty sure we're gonna go lavender picking again next year.
You're probably wondering why am I telling you all this?
Well, after our fun lavender picking, we've got so much lavender that I can't help but think where should I use it besides putting it in my bedding.
Since New Year's Eve is only a few days away, I thought it would be fun to prepare dessert that is super easy, super delicious and yet extravagant.
I added a little bit of my lavender into the cream and it infused this classic French dessert with pleasant floral aroma.
You can prepare Creme Brulee the day ahead or in the morning. Make sure to give it at least 2 hours to set in a refrigerator. When ready to serve, caramelise the sugar and enjoy the decadent taste of this easy dessert.
Recipe
Lavender Creme Brulee Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ teaspon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons fresh lavender or 1 tablespoon of dried lavender
- 3 tablespoons sugar + more for sprinkling
- 4 egg yolks
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan and on a medium heat add heavy whipping cream and heat it up just until it's hot but not boiling. Remove from heat, add vanilla and lavender and set aside. Let lavender to infuse the cream for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 300 F.
- Meanwhile in a medium mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks with a sugar.
- Strain infused cream and discard the lavender. Add half of the cream mixture into the eggs and whisk until nice and smooth. Add the remaining cream and keep whisking until you have a smooth custard.
- Strain the custard back into the sauce pan or another clean bowl.
- Place prepared ramekins in a large high-sided baking pan and divide the custard between the ramekins.
- Carefully and slowly fill the pan with hot water halfway up the ramekins.
- Place the pan in the oven and cook for 50-60 minutes until slightly wobbly in the center. Remove creme brulee from the oven, let it cool completely and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle each ramekin with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar and heat with a small kitchen blowtorch until sugar caramelizes.
- *If you don't have a kitchen blowtorch, you can place your ramekins with the sprinkled sugar under the broiler for 3-4 minutes until sugar caramelizes.
Nutrition
Iryna Bychkiv is the founder and writer of the culinary website Lavender & Macarons, where she shares clean, European-inspired recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and made with wholesome ingredients. Iryna loves creating meals that are simple yet healthy and unique, including vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Iryna is also a freelance writer for MSN and Associated Press Wire.
Rosie says
Hi I was wondering if the vanilla extract should be in Teaspoons. ???
Iryna Bychkiv says
Great catch! That was a typo — it should be 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract, not tablespoons. Thanks for the heads up!
cindy mancina says
Questions :-): I'm making this for the 1st time and only have dried lavender...I've made Levender creme brule before, but don't remember the amount of dried lavender I used...I LOVE lavender and want to really taste it, so my ? is, is 1 T enough to taste if using the dried? Also, would it be better if I scraped a vanilla bean in instead of using the extract? Or should I use both to have the lovely vanilla bean flavor as well? I'm making this on Thursday, today's Tuesday, so I hope I hear back from you before then 🙂 This will be my first L&M recipe and I'm looking forward to it...I guess another question I have is your portions...4.8 egg yolks?? 3.6 T's? HOW to we fraction out an egg yolk like that, etc?
Iryna Bychkiv says
Cindy, I’m so glad you’re trying this recipe—and how exciting that it’s your first from Lavender & Macarons! 😊
Yes, 1 tablespoon of dried lavender should give you a noticeable floral flavor, especially if you steep it well in the cream. Since you love lavender, you could even go up to 1½ tablespoons. I recommend starting with 1 tablespoon, tasting the cream after steeping, and adjusting from there if needed.
As for the vanilla—scraping a vanilla bean will definitely elevate the flavor and give that lovely speckled look. You can absolutely use both the bean and extract if you want a richer vanilla presence, but if you have to pick just one, go with the scraped bean.
And yes—thank you for pointing that out about the yolks and tablespoons! The fractions come from the recipe card’s automatic scaling feature. If you're lookin for 6 servings - here's how I would adjust the ingredients: use 5 large egg yolks and round the tablespoons to 3 ½ tablespoons of sugar if needed. As for the heavy cream, I would do 2 cups + 6 tablespoons to be sufficient for 6 portions.
Can’t wait to hear how it turns out on Thursday—feel free to come back and let me know!
Sterling Rose says
I am excited to try this! I am making it tonight. I have dried lavender. Is the 2 tablespoons for fresh lavender?
Iryna Bychkiv says
Sterling, sorry for the late response! It's 2 tablespoons of fresh lavender. If you use dried lavender, you will need one tablespoon.
Charmaine S. says
Hi!
I’m in the Netherlands and I just wanted you to know that I have been slowly making my way through your recipes. I have enjoyed every single one and have managed to recreate them successfully. Your directions are so clear and easy to follow. I don’t do Instagram so I haven’t been taking pictures. I’m thinking I will start doing that so I can share my efforts with you. I will be making your Lavender Creme Brulee later this week. Thank you!
Iryna says
Charmaine, thank you for your lovely comment! I'm all smiles! I'm very happy you're enjoying my recipes and if you ever get chance to share your creations on Instagram, I'll be excited to see them!
I hope my Creme Brulee will turn out just as delicious as the rest of the recipes!:)
Jeff Sammler says
Hi,
I have 5 oz ramekins that I just got. Will this work for the brûlée’s? When I ordered them I did consider the ounce per ramekin. Please let know if it will affect the cooking process for the brûlée’s..
Thank you for your time
Jeff
Iryna says
Hi Jeff! Sorry for the late reply! Yes, 5 oz ramekins are fine. I have and use them as well and it doesn't affect a cooking time.