Crème brûlée may seem like the intimidating type of French dessert reserved for high-end restaurants. While the traditional version is relatively simple with a straightforward ingredient list, it’s the technique that may scare off new bakers. Custards are in a tricky category of their own. Avoid the stress and uncertainty of a real crème brûlée and make this cheater version with ice cream.
Try this 3-ingredient crème brûlée you can make at home l GMA
Crème brûlée normally requires the gentle mixing of eggs with simmering cream. If you mix everything together well, you will be rewarded with a silky custard after baking. If you don’t, however, you may end up with a broken custard, a lumpy custard, or a custard that never sets.
Luckily for us, vanilla custard comes ready-made and will keep indefinitely in your supermarket freezer. Ice cream, thankfully, is a frozen, fluffy custard. It contains all the usual ingredients – cream, milk, eggs, flavourings and sugar – with the helpful addition of emulsifiers and perhaps thickeners, depending on the brand. All of which help to stabilise the custard and prevent it from breaking. These are just little safety nets that us cheaters are clever enough to exploit in our attempts to make quick, foolproof desserts.
Besides the speed and ease, part of the beauty of this trick is that you don’t have to make a big batch. You can make a single batch for a solo date night, or double it up for an easy Valentine’s Day dessert.
