I do love a Crème Brûlée. Definitely one of my favorite desserts. The rich, creamy custard topped with that sweet crack of torched sugar on top. However, I do often find crème brûlées to be a little too sweet for me (I know!). But not this Irish Cream Crème Brûlée. This version isn’t too sweet but is still creamy and delicious.

It’s a fairly straightforward recipe. Although, saying that, you do need to be careful not to scramble your eggs. So don’t let the cream get too hot. And definitely make sure that you strain it into the ramekins through a fine sieve, because there may be some bits of egg that you don’t want in your final dessert. I used heavy cream for mine, so I think if you’re not in the US, then double cream would be the best option. However, I have not tested the recipe with double cream.

This gets baked in your oven in a water bath. Which just means that you put the filled ramekins into a roasting tin and fill it with water until it’s about two thirds of the way up the sides of the dishes. This helps to keep a more consistent temperature and provides a moist heat while your Irish Cream Crème Brûlée is baking.

I used vanilla bean paste from Nielsen-Massey for making these. If you don’t have the paste, then vanilla extract will also work, but I do like the little flecks of vanilla you can see in the custard from using the paste.

Ideally, you want to use a culinary blowtorch to brûlée the tops of your dessert. It does allow more control over the melting sugar. But, not everyone has one of those in their kitchen cabinet, so use your grill/broiler instead. Just make sure your sugar layer is even and don’t take your eyes off it while it’s melting!