Egg nog is a rich, creamy beverage typically enjoyed around the holidays and while some serve it spiked with a little brandy, egg nog itself does not contain alcohol, so it can be enjoyed by everyone any time of day. Its origins can be traced back to medieval times in Great Britain where it was used to both toast to success around the holidays and to treat cold and flus during the cold winter months.
In modern times, it can be found at almost every grocery store in the month of December and while it is a delicious drink that can be enjoyed hot or cold, today we are using it to make one very festive créme brûlée that is the perfect way to elevate your holiday dessert plans or simply use up a little extra nog you may have on hand.
Let’s get started…
Crème brûlée is a French baked custard topped with a crisp sugar crust that is often found at fine restaurants, which gives it a fancy vibe, but this wonderful dessert is actually quite simple to make at home.
Crème brûlée is baked in a bain-marie, which is a hot water bath. Stick with me here. This simply means that once the custard is prepared and poured into ramekins (or any small oven safe dishes), those ramekins are going to be placed into a large baking dish with hot water in the base. Nestling the ramekins in hot water helps to maintain gentle even heat as the crème brûlée bakes, which helps to give it that beautifully creamy texture that is is known for.
Begin by combining 3/4 cup of egg nog with 3/4 cup of heavy cream, 1/3 cup or granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, a pinch of cloves and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan and bring it to a steamy simmer over medium heat. Whisk it often while it is heating up to help the sugar dissolve and as soon as it begins to simmer, remove it from the heat.
Whisk 3 egg yolks in a large bowl until they are fully combined and pale yellow in color. The lightening of the color lets you know that some air has been incorporated into the yolks and this is an important part in developing a great texture in your custard.
Once the egg yolks are nice and pale, ladle a little bit of the hot egg nog mixture into the yolks and whisk vigorously to combine. Continue repeating this process until all of the egg nog mixture has been whisked into the egg yolks.
Note: Be sure to add the hot egg nog mixture a little bit at a time. This will help to slowly warm the yolks and prevent the heat from scrambling them.
Divide the mixture between four 4 ounce ramekins. If you don’t have ramekins, crème brûlée can be baked in any small oven safe baking dish that holds about 1/2 cup of liquid.
Place your ramekins into a deep baking dish and carefully add enough hot water to come half way up their sides. You can use boiling water or your hottest tap water, just be sure to not let any of the water splash into the custard.
Carefully transfer the baking dish onto the center rack of a 325 degree oven and bake until the edges of the custard are lightly set, but the center is still a little wobbly. I like to test this by tapping the sides of one of the ramekins with a spoon to see how the middle of the custard looks. If it waves like liquid, it needs to bake longer, but if it jiggles like jello, it is ready to take out of the oven.
Once you have transferred the baking dish out of the oven, use a large fork or flexible fish spatula to carefully lift the ramekins out of the water bath and onto a cooling rack. Let them cool for 30 minutes at room temperature and then transfer them into your refrigerator uncovered to chill for a minimum of 4 hours.
This is another reason that I love crème brûlée. You can make it the day before a dinner party or make it on Friday and have dessert for 2 on Saturday and Sunday!
Right before you are ready to serve, sprinkle granulated sugar over the top of the fully chilled custard. To officially transform this into crème brûlée, the sugar needs to be brûléed or caramelized. This is usually done with a chefs torch, but if you do not have one, you can place the ramekins under your oven broiler until the sugar is all bubbly and deeply golden brown.
Be sure to keep a very close eye on the sugar if you are broiling it in the oven. As soon as it begins to bubble up and darken, pull it out! You can always slide it back under the broiler if you need more color, but you don’t want your sugar to taste scorched.
There is something so inviting about that dark, crisp crust and shattering into it, is one of the best parts of ordering crème brûlée. This is why is always recommend baking crème brûlée in individual ramekins instead of in one larger dish to share. I believe everyone should be able to shatter their own crème brûlée… you deserve it.
This spiced egg nog crème brûlée is absolutely amazing and I feel it necessary to say you are going to enjoy this even if you aren’t a huge egg nog fan. Yes, you can probably recognize the egg nog in the overall flavor, but it more resembles a vanilla custard full of warm spices than what egg nog tastes like as a beverage.
This crème brûlée is rich and velvety and simply fabulous. It reminds me of vanilla ice cream with some notes of apple pie or chai spices. It is comforting and delicious and although egg nog is typically reserved for the holidays, I vote that we enjoy this spiced egg nog crème brûlée year round. Who’s with me?
If you love crème brûlée then you will have to give these a try…
Spiced Egg Nog Crème Brûlée
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup of egg nog
- 3/4 cup of heavy cream
- 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
- a pinch of cloves
- a pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar (for brûlêeing)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees
- Place four 4 ounce ramekins in a 8-9” square baking dish
- Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil
- Combine 3/4 cup of egg nog, 3/4 cup of heavy cream, 1/3 cup or granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, a pinch of cloves and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. As soon as the mixture begins to simmer, transfer it off of the heat
- Whisk the 3 egg yolks in a large bowl until completely combined and pale yellow in color
- Slowly ladle a bit of the egg nog mixture into the egg yolks whisking as you add. Continue adding a little more at a time until all of the egg nog mixture has been added to the egg yolks
- Divide the mixture between the ramekins
- Very carefully add enough boiling water to come half way up the sides of the ramekins (do not let any water splash into the ramekins)
- Carefully place the dish into a preheated 325 degree oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are lightly set but the center of each ramekin is still giggly
- Transfer the ramekins out of the baking dish and onto a cooling rack to cool for 30 minutes
- Transfer the slightly cooled ramekins into your refrigerator uncovered for 4 hours or overnight
- When ready to serve, sprinkle about a tablespoon of granulated sugar over the surface of each ramekin and use a brûlée torch to brûlée the sugar until deeply caramelized
- Enjoy immediately
