By Jerrelle Guy
- Total Time
- 3 hours, plus chilling
- Rating
- 4(1,211)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This crowd-pleasing dessert imitates the velvety custard and caramelized sugar shell of a crème brûlée, with the added bonus of a flaky crust. A food processor makes easy work of the all-butter pie shell, which can be chilled, then baked, a day in advance. Unlike with traditional crème brûlée, there’s no need to simmer the cream on a stovetop or use a blow torch, ramekins or water bath to pull this dessert together. The filling is simply blended together, baked in the pie shell, then chilled. Broil the pie just before serving to achieve that characteristic crackle on top; like a typical crème brûlée, the filling will be delicate, loose and delightfully wobbly.
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Ingredients
Yield:One 9-inch pie (about 8 servings)
- 1½cups/195 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾cup/170 grams unsalted butter (1½ sticks), cubed and chilled
- 7 to 9tablespoons ice water
- ½cup plus 3 tablespoons/145 grams granulated sugar
- 4large egg yolks
- ¾teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- ¼teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1½cups/360 milliliters heavy cream, chilled
For the Crust
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
544 calories; 37 grams fat; 22 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 32 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 280 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Prepare the crust: In a food processor, blend the flour and ¾ teaspoon salt on high for 5 seconds to combine. Open the lid and scatter the cubes of butter evenly across the top, reattach the lid, and pulse until the butter is about the size of peas or a little larger. Drizzle in 5 tablespoons of the water through the lid while continuing to pulse. If the mixture is still dry, drizzle in more water, adding 1 tablespoon at a time and stopping once the dough is properly moist. Check as you go by pinching the mixture between your fingertips: It should look crumbly but it should hold together when you squeeze it. You should be able to compress it without it sticking too much to your fingers.
Step
2
Set a sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface and dump the dough into the center of it. Wrap it up tightly and compress the dough into a flat, smooth disk. Refrigerate the disk at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days.
Step
3
Remove the chilled dough from the fridge. On a lightly floured work surface, quickly roll the dough out into an even 13-inch round, making sure to occasionally turn, flip and lightly dust the dough and rolling pin as you go. Carefully transfer the crust to a 9-inch glass pie plate, making sure not to stretch it as you nestle it into the corners of the plate.
Step
4
Using scissors, trim away the rough edges of the dough and tuck the remaining overhang under itself to create a thicker edge that rests on the rim of the pan. Crimp the edges using your fingertips or the tines of a fork, then place the entire plate in the freezer for another 30 minutes to harden.
Step
5
Heat the oven to 425 degrees and position a rack in the center of the oven. Remove the crust from the freezer and place a sheet of parchment on top of the pie crust, making sure it extends far beyond the edges of the pie, and top the paper with pie weights or uncooked beans. Bake for 30 minutes before removing the weights and parchment, and then bake for another 12 to 15 minutes until the bottom is light golden brown. Transfer the pie crust in its pie plate to a wire rack to cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
Step
6
While the pie crust cools, heat the oven to 300 degrees and prepare the filling: In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add ½ cup granulated sugar, egg yolks, vanilla bean paste, salt and nutmeg, and beat on high speed for 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through. The mixture will be very pale and have a marshmallow-like consistency. Reduce the speed to medium, and with the mixer still running, slowly drizzle in the heavy cream, beating until completely combined.
Step
7
Pour the mixture into the cooled crust and bake until the pie is set around the edges and jiggly in the center, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at least 20 minutes before placing in the fridge, uncovered, to chill overnight (or at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days).
Step
8
When ready to serve, heat the oven to broil and place a rack 3 to 4 inches away from the heat source. Remove the pie from the fridge and using a sheet of aluminum foil and a pair of scissors, cut a hole out of the center of the foil to create a frame that will expose the filling of the pie but covers the crust. Secure it firmly so it’s hugging the crust and sides of the plate. Sprinkle the remaining 3 tablespoons granulated sugar over the filling, and place the pie directly under the broiler for 3 to 6 minutes, watching closely and rotating the pan and foil as needed, until the sugar begins to bubble and burn all over.
Step
9
Remove from the oven, allow 3 to 5 minutes to cool so the sugar can harden, then gently tap the surface with a knife to break up the sheet of sugar around the areas you intend to cut. Slice and serve immediately, before the sugar softens. More delicate than custard pies, the filling will be loose and wobbly like crème brûlée.
Ratings
4
out of 5
1,211
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Apples'nOranges
Years ago, Bon Appetit published a recipe for creme brûlée tart Jimmy. It had a thin layer of bittersweet chocolate melted into the bottom crust and blackberries over that, then the custard and brûlée topping. It was delicious.
Annie
Do you still have the Bon Appetite` recipe? If so, care to share it with us? Please, since it does indeed sound to die for
Megan Kay
Chocolate and Blackberry Tart Creme Brûlée (part 1)Ingredients* 9 inch tart pan lined with a basic pie crust* 6 egg yolks* 6 Tbsp sugar* 2 cups whipping cream* 1 cup sour cream* 1 tsp vanilla* 3 oz bittersweet chocolate* 2 cups blackberries* 1/4 cup sugar (for top)
Denise
This sounds like the recipe, although it does not come from BA. https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/chocolate/chocolate-and-blackberry-tart-creme-brulee.html
Amanda Burton
45 minutes to bake a pie crust blind and then baking the pie for another 40-50 minutes...something is wrong, I said to myself. 7-9 tablespoons of ice water made me laugh enough to scare the cat! Make that 3 tablespoons. It's pastry, not Play-Doh. Bake 400º for 12 minutes weighted, then 5-ish mins empty. Cool. Fill. Bake on preheated baking stone 300º 35-ish mins to preclude soggy bottom crust. Center should test @ 170-180º with instant-read thermometer, still jiggles a bit. Betcha it sets fine.
dede.heath
I think one could say that «blended together» is redundant.With that comment off my mind, I can add that I prefer my crème brûlée straight, sans crust. It’s at the very top of my desserts-favorites list!
Megan Kay
(Part 4)Melt chocolate and spread over the baked crust. Cover with berries and top with cooled custard, smoothing with back of a spoon.When ready to serve sift sugar over entire top.With a little propane torch, melt the sugar.Chill a few minutes before serving.
Alexa Weibel, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking
All of our recipes are carefully cooked, tested, edited and scrutinized, but we always appreciate reader feedback (we care!). I wonder if one notion is unclear in this recipe: The texture of the filling is intentionally jiggly and wobbly like that of crème brûlée, as opposed to a firmer custard pie filling. I consulted with Jerrelle, and we've added some updates to the recipe to that effect, so that readers are aware the filling is intentionally fragile and delicate, like the dessert it mimics.
S-Bizzle
Hey Peggy - FWIW, I just sub vanilla extract for vanilla bean paste and everything works out fine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I often see them listed as either/or ingredients.
Carole Tyzack
Thank you so much for giving ingredients in grams and millilitres as well as the cups system which we Europeans find so confusing. When I see a recipe using cups and sticks of butter I just ignore it even if I might have liked to make it.
Megan Kay
(Part 2)Line crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with beans or rice to keep crust from puffing up.Bake crust 8-10 mins in 400 degree oven. Remove foil/parchment and beans/rice and continue baking for about 12 mins till golden brown.Cool.
Melissa
I used a frozen pie crust, blind baked for 15 mins, then baked the filling for 55 mins before I could trust that it was done. Still jiggly, but once set did not run.
laura
I put this recipe together before reading all the comments . I feared the egg to cream ratio wasn’t going to work. I turned up the oven and cooked on convection 375 and cooked for 1hour . Came out beautiful ...the crust was superb , flakey and very tasty . Iw will definitely make again .
Shawn
Megan Kay, Part 3 is missing! I want to make YOUR recipe.
Ali
This recipe did not work for me. The custard did not set despite letting it cook longer than the time recommended. It seemed like the wrong ratio of egg yolks to cream, but I’m certainly no expert on making creme brûlée.
essa
DELICIOUS! The creme brûlée and the pie crust both came out with perfect balance of texture & taste. If you’re using smaller eggs, add an extra yolk and increase sugar by 1 tbsp. If you’re not happy with the result, you’re most probably doing something wrong. Don’t blame the recipe, blame ur techniques.
Eric
Absolute waste of time and ingredients. Nothing close to a crème brute.
Dude
Everything went well until the baking. I popped it into the oven at the prescribed temp and time, and then let it rest overnight in the fridge. An overnight stay in the fridge resulted in a wiggly product. I baked the pie (covered with foil) at 300F for 25m, nada. I water bathed the pie, still covered, at 300F for another 25m, nada. I increased the heat to 350F, with the pie being in there for nearly an hour now, and it finally set to a point where I get comfortable for people to eat the pie.
Miranda Turin
This recipe should be retired - it needs at least 3 more yolks to actually set. The pie I made for Thanksgiving, faithfully following this recipe, was soup. Completely liquid. I even tried baking it 15 minutes longer - nope. It’s just not right. It was disappointing not to have a dessert to serve - another pie had been coming but that guest got Covid. Of course we were all stuffed anyway but it’s just not Thanksgiving without pie.
Liz T
This did not do well for meThe crust was hard ( too much butter) and it cooked too long so it was hard and shrunk! The filling didn’t fit. After heating and cooling all day I don’t think I’ll be making this again. I’ll stick to crème brûlée in a ramekin.
Emily H.
As someone who simply cannot successfully make her own crust, I rely on pre-made, refrigerated options. If you're using pre-made dough, roll it out onto your pie plate, do the fancy thing around the edges, cover it with tin foil (be sure to cover the crust edges), then use sugar as the pie weight. Cook in the oven at 350 for one hour. That worked for me! I'm sure the bakers on here will have other ideas, but after the fourth try, this technique worked best. GREAT PIE & totally worth it!
this recipe is bullsh*t
Baking my crust at 425 for 30 minutes, under parchment and weights, resulted and an almost black crust. Now we won’t be eating pie tonight. Absolute insanity that the recipe calls for 45 min of cooking the crust alone.
Ryan
Fantastic flavor, but the pie didn't set for me with the ratio of egg yolk to heavy cream that the recipe called for (it's totally possible my yolks were smaller than what the recipe intended). I upped it to 5 yolks and 1 teaspoon of corn starch to help the filling set and it turned out perfectly. After those adjustments it was the family favorite at Thanksgiving!
Chris Tweitmann
Chocolate & Blackberry Tart Creme Brûlée (Part 3)In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, cream, sour cream, & vanilla. Transfer to the top of a double boiler or a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Cook stirring constantly, till the custard thickens, about 30 mins. When the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, remove it from heat & strain it into a large clean bowl. The custard will thicken as it cools. Keep custard chilled until ready to use.
Noelle
This was wooooonderful, but part of me just wished I had creme brulee. But I made creme brulee pie, not creme brulee, so that's on me.
Kaitlyn
The blind bake time is totally off-my crust was burnt in far less time than the recipe suggested. Use your go-to blind bake recipe instead.
Basic Step
Please remember to poke hole in the bottoms of your pie crusts please! It'll mitigate puffing if you experience that when baking pie crusts.
Nancy Petersen
What pie pan do you use? All the instructions I've read say not to put their glass pie pan under the broiler. Thanks
Brooke
Like others, I am experiencing the never-setting filling and the overdone crust (even before extra baking time for the filling). Next time I will try with a different custard recipe and less time on the crust. More egg seems to be the ticket. Foil on the crust edges may help as well. I'll be torching the sugar the old-fashioned way to avoid even more time on my poor, toasty crust.
Rich
For me, it took longer than 50min to cook the creme brûlée took about 60 min at 300° I’d suggest raising it to 325° if you want the cook time to range from 40-50min
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