This Instant Pot Crème Brulee recipe is silky smooth, full of vanilla flavor, and topped with a crispy sugar toppings. It's an easy recipe to make in your Instant Pot and will soon become a new family favorite recipe!
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If you didn't know you could make dessert in your Instant Pot, I am here to tell you that you can! You can make these delicious custard cups, but you can also make carrot cake in the Instant Pot and rice pudding too!
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What is Crème Brulee?
Crème brulee is the perfect dessert to make in your Instant Pot! It is a custard based dessert that has a crisp, sugary crust on the top. When you bake it in the oven, you use a water bath to cook the custard, but in this case, the Instant Pot will gently cook the dessert.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Heavy Cream. Half and Half can work too!
- Whole Milk. Don't use skim milk, you need the fat from the whole milk in this recipe.
- Egg yolks. You will need to separate the whole eggs. The egg whites can be used for other recipes like omelets or scrambled eggs.
- Sugar. We will need ½ cup of sugar to add to the egg mixture, and then another 2 tablespoons to add to the top of the custard.
- Vanilla extract. Crème brulee often has vanilla beans in it, but those can be expensive and hard to find. For this recipe we will use vanilla extract.
Equipment To Gather
- Instant Pot. I have a 6 quart Instant Pot and it fit 6 small mason jars perfectly.
- Trivet insert.
- Measuring cups.
- Liquid measuring cup or medium bowl.
- Medium Saucepan.
- Candy Thermometer
- Small Mason Jars
How To Make Instant Pot Creme Brulee
In a medium bowl, add the egg yolks. To do this, crack the large eggs and place the egg yolks in the medium bowl and place the egg whites in an airtight container. You can use them for other recipes.
In a medium saucepan, add the whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Cook the mixture until the sugar dissolves over low heat. A candy thermometer is helpful here. Do not let the mixture get higher than 120 degrees.
With a ladle, scoop one scoop into the eggs and mix the egg mixture well. When the milk is mixed well with the eggs, add the egg mixture into the rest of the cream mixture. Mix well until a smooth custard liquid forms.
Pour the mixture into a liquid measuring cup and set out 6 small mason jars. Pour mixture into the mason jars. Cover the mason jars with aluminum foil.
Add a cup of water to the Instant Pot and add the trivet. Place the mason jars into the Instant Pot. Close the Instant Pot and hit the manual button. Set the pressure to low pressure for 14 minutes of cook time. Natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Remove the custard cups from the Instant Pot and let them cool to room temperature for at least 1 hour. At this point, you can refrigerate them to cool them off and to serve them cold.
Spoon sugar onto the top of the crème brulee and place them on a baking sheet. Broil them for 2 minutes or until the top of the custard cups are crispy and browned. Serve immediately.
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure the pressure is set to low pressure. High pressure will cook the eggs too quickly and could cause the eggs to scramble.
- Do not let the milk and cream mixture boil. Keep the heat to low heat or medium heat at the highest. Just like the high pressure, cooking the milk too high will cause it to separate.
- To make bigger creme brulee, you can use any dish that is oven safe. Small pyrex cups will work too.
- If you are using a vanilla bean, use a fine mesh strainer to remove any of the lumps that the seed pods may have left behind.
- The cups of water is necessary to make sure the smooth custard cooks gently.
- Natural release the pressure, do not manually release the pressure. That will drop the pressure too quickly and could cause the eggs to scramble.
Variations
- Serve this delicious Instant Pot creme brulee with fresh fruit like fresh berries, diced peaches, sliced bananas, or diced apples.
- Use different flavors! Instead of vanilla extract, use pumpkin pie seasoning, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder, or maple syrup to sweetened the traditional egg custard.
- Use coconut milk instead of heavy cream! This custard recipe would be delicious with coconut milk!
- If you have a blow torch, you can use that instead of the broiler.
Frequently Asked Questions
Instant Pots are very popular now, so lots of people have them, but use your favorite electric pressure cooker for this recipe.
Yes! After the creme brulee comes out of the Instant Pot, keep it in the refrigerator covered with aluminum foil or plastic wrap for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to serve the creme brulee, sprinkle it with sugar and then broil it to get the crisp top crust.
The center of the custard will be a little jiggly when it comes out of the Instant Pot. As it cools, it will harden up. That's another reason to let the crème brulee cool so it is not too liquidy.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Hot Chocolate
- Hearty Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Chicken
- Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Creme Brulee
Ingredients
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 6 Egg Yolks
- ½ cup Sugar Plus More For Topping
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the egg yolks. To do this, crack the large eggs and place the egg yolks in the medium bowl and place the egg whites in an airtight container. You can use them for other recipes.
- In a medium saucepan, add the whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Cook the mixture until the sugar dissolves over low heat. A candy thermometer is helpful here. Do not let the mixture get higher than 120 degrees.
- With a ladle, scoop one scoop of the milk mixture into the eggs and mix well. When the milk is mixed well with the eggs, add the egg mixture into the rest of the cream mixture. Mix well until a smooth custard liquid forms.
- Pour the mixture into a liquid measuring cup and set out 6 small mason jars. Pour mixture into the mason jars. Cover the mason jars with aluminum foil.
- Add a cup of water to the Instant Pot and add the trivet. Place the mason jars into the Instant Pot. Close the Instant Pot and hit the manual button. Set the pressure to low pressure for 14 minutes of cook time.
- Natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Remove the custard cups from the Instant Pot and let them cool to room temperature for at least 2 hours. At this point, you can refrigerate them to cool them off and to serve them cold.
- Spoon sugar onto the top of the crème brulee and place them on a baking sheet. Broil them for 2 minutes or until the top of the custard cups are crispy and browned. Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can use all heavy cream for a more decadent creme brulee, or you can use half and half instead of whole milk.
- It's important that the milk mixture does not boil as it will make the milk curdle.
- Do not quick release the pressure as the egg mixture may scramble.
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