Caramelized Honey Crème Brûlée

 

Wow.  So ya know Crème brûlée, right?  Well.  Let’s take it up a notch with Caramelized Honey Crème brûlée.  Wow.

Seriously.  Like that's the only statement I can make about this recipe.  It has me that speechless.

Wow.

Caramelized Honey Crème Brûlée.

Uh huh.

Mike is a tremendous Crème brûlée lover.  Probably his favorite dessert ever....well, until he met me hahaha!

If it's on the menu at a restaurant, he will order it every single time.  Every time.  No hesitation. 

And me, I've been a terrible wife, I never make it for him. 

Why?

I don't know.  I don't know what's wrong with me.  He does not suffer, trust me.  I'm not a terrible wife.

But why do I not make it for him?  It's not hard.

Probably because I was somehow in some way waiting for this recipe to come into our lives. 

Because now this is Mike's favorite Crème brûlée and rightfully so.  It is mind-bogglingly delicious.  All thanks to that caramelized honey.

Now, I did not know you could caramelize honey.  But you can.  And you can put it in Crème brûlée to make Caramelized Honey Crème brûlée and blow your freakin' socks off.

You haven't had Crème brûlée until you've had this Caramelized Honey Crème brûlée.

And it's not complicated.  Like at all.  I made it once, Mike was agog and more staggered over this dessert than he's ever been that when we polished them off, I had to make them again right after.  I was uh, required, ahem cough.

But trust me, I did not mind one iota.

Unbelievable, this recipe.  Sunshine-y heavenly custard dreaminess bumped up a zillion snicks by glorious, caramelized honey.

Ooofph.  So good. 

Otherworldly.

Yeah that's me leaning back in my chair, eyes rolling, thinking why the heck am I sitting here typing when I should be making this darn freakin' recipe right now.

Originally I only made half a batch, just in case, but boy that was a mistake.  Mike was speechless with me; sure it's eye-poppingly delicious but, "uh why only a half batch?!  Make the full batch."  Trust me.

It's so good, I was scooping teensy tiny little bites in a desperate attempt to make my serving last forever.  Yeah.  That's how good.

Plus there's no sugar, except for the famous burnt top which is pretty negligible.  The whole dessert is sweetened by caramelized honey.

To start this off, you'll need to caramelize that honey.  Don't panic, it's simple.  Pick a good one if you can since the entire recipe focuses on this ingredient but I imagine most honey will work out fine here.

I used the honey I picked up in Indiana but will next try it with honey I picked up in Michigan.  And again and again and again....

Ok, too you're gonna need some vanilla bean pods.*  I know.  They're expensive.  But.  This dessert is worth the expense.

Now, these photos will be showing half the recipe, just to note.

And while we're on the needing things topic, eight six-ounce ramekins.*  And a fine mesh sieve* which, if you've been following along, I use often.

Ok, it's time to caramelize the honey.  Get it nice and bubbling, it'll darken way the heck up, smell heady and floral then like it's burning.  Which is what we want here, so don't fret and don't pull it too early.

This stuff is HOT so be careful!

Next, in goes the cream and then the milk, or both at the same time is fine too.

Whisk up the egg yolks and temper them with a slow stream of the hot liquid, whisking* along, then pour everything into the saucepan, whisk whisk whisk.  Since we're baking this, it's not necessary to really thicken things up.


Pour the saucepan contents through that fine mesh sieve.  I find pouring the liquid into a large measuring cup* makes it mess-free to then pour into the ramekins.

Which is the next step!  Have those ramekins in a high-walled baking dish, like a 9x13* or so.  You can set a towel beneath them to keep them from sliding around but, eh, it's not critical.

Fill the ramekins with this lovely Caramelized Honey Crème brûlée liquid, fill the pan with boiling water halfway up their sides, then carefully, carefully!, slip the pan into the oven.

A nice long slow bake later, they'll look deeply golden, set on the edges yet be wiggly jiggly in the center still. 

Cool, then refrigerate, then it's torch time!  A kitchen torch* works, a workshop torch* does too, as does the oven broiler.

Sprinkle on some sugar, then toast the tops until the sugar bubbles, browns, and forms that crispy crunchy glass-like crust.

Serve! 

And savor, oh my gosh. 

There we have it.  Heaven in a little dish.  Caramelized Honey Crème brûlée.  Good luck not eating every last one in a sitting.  And you're welcome.

Happy baking!

*The vanilla bean pods, ramekins, fine mesh sieves, whisks, large measuring cups, baking dishes, and torches are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.