This chocolate crème brûlée recipe is the ultimate chocolate dessert. It’s easy to make, and you can prepare it up to three days ahead, making it perfect for entertaining.
Our family is obsessed with this recipe. It’s indulgent, rich, creamy, and incredibly delicious. If you love classic crème brûlée, you have to try the chocolate version. And if you’re searching for a special dessert for Valentine’s Day or date night, this is the one.
One of my favorite things about this recipe is how well it works as a make-ahead dessert. Prepare the custards in advance, chill them, and then caramelize the sugar just before serving.
Key Ingredients
- Cream: Use heavy whipping cream (or heavy cream). If you’re outside the US, double cream works well.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar is perfect. You’ll use some in the custard and some for the caramelized top. Flavored sugars can be fun for the topping (espresso sugar is a favorite).
- Egg Yolks: These create the silky custard base for crème brûlée. Save the whites for another recipe, like angel food cake, or add them to scrambled eggs and frittatas.
- Chocolate: I usually use bittersweet or dark chocolate (60% cacao or higher). Feel free to use milk chocolate or even white chocolate, but keep in mind the custard will taste sweeter.
- Vanilla: Just a small splash of vanilla extract rounds everything out. When making classic crème brûlée, I’d reach for a vanilla bean, but in this recipe there is no need for beans or vanilla paste since chocolate is the star.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Chocolate Crème Brûlée
Tip 1: Make the chocolate custard. The custard for this is a simple mixture of heated cream and sugar, whisked into egg yolks, then into melted chocolate.
Since the cream is hot when it goes into the egg yolks, you temper the eggs, which is a fancy term for bringing the egg yolks up a little so that when you add the hot cream, they don’t scramble. We use the same technique when making banana pudding and banana cream pie. We walk you through it in the recipe, but if you see a few little lumps of cooked egg, don’t stress. We’ll strain the custard before baking.
Tip 2: Bake in a water bath. For the best texture, we want our custard to cook evenly and slowly (just like when making cheesecake). So, bake your ramekins filled with custard in a water bath. The gentle, moist heat of the water bath helps them cook slowly and stay perfectly smooth and creamy.
Tip 3: Chill for 2 hours (or more if you want). Before adding our sugar topping, we want to chill the baked custard completely. This guarantees it firms up and has the best, creamy texture. I like to leave them in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but you can leave them for up to 3 days.
Tip 4: Add a caramelized sugar top. Right before serving, sprinkle the tops with sugar and caramelize with a torch or under the broiler for that classic crackly top.
More Chocolate Dessert Recipes
- Chocolate Snickerdoodles
- Fudgy Brownies
- Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Browse all of our chocolate desserts
Perfect Chocolate Crème Brûlée
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is the ultimate chocolate dessert! You can make it up to 3 days ahead, making this perfect for entertaining. To achieve that crisp caramelized top, you’ll need a culinary torch or use our tips for caramelizing under the broiler, as outlined in the tips below.
You Will Need
2 cups heavy cream (470ml)
½ cup sugar, plus more for serving, divided (100g)
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
4 large egg yolks
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces, about ½ cup (85g)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
1Prep: Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Set six 5- to 6-ounce ramekins in a large roasting pan or baking dish. Fill a kettle or saucepan with water and bring it to a boil for the water bath later.
2Heat the cream: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, half of the sugar (¼ cup), and the salt. Bring just to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
3Melt the chocolate: Add the chopped chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl, reserving about 1 tablespoon. Microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring after each, until mostly melted. Stir in the reserved chocolate until smooth.
4Whisk the yolks and sugar: In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining ¼ cup sugar until well combined.
5Temper the eggs: While whisking the yolks, slowly stream in about half of the hot cream. Once combined, switch to whisking the cream left in the saucepan, and slowly pour the tempered mixture back into the pan.
6Combine with chocolate: Pour the warm custard into the melted chocolate and whisk until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any lumps.
7Set up the water bath: Place the roasting pan with ramekins in the oven. Pour the hot water into the pan so it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
8Bake: Ladle the custard into the ramekins, filling about ¾ full. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until the centers are just set but still have a slight wobble.
9Chill: Carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath and wipe dry. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
10Serve: Remove the ramekins from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving. Just before serving, sprinkle a thin, even layer of sugar (about 1 tablespoon per ramekin) over the top. Use a culinary torch to melt and caramelize the sugar. Let the topping cool for a minute or two so it hardens before serving.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Make ahead and storing: You can make the crème brûlée ahead and refrigerate it (without the sugar topping) for up to 3 days. Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap to keep it from picking up any fridge smells. When you’re ready to serve, remove the ramekins from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes beforehand, then sprinkle the sugar on top and caramelize.
- No Microwave method for melting chocolate: Place the chopped chocolate and ⅔ cup of the cream in a heatproof bowl (glass or metal). Set the bowl over a saucepan with 1 to 2 inches of barely simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Let the chocolate melt slowly, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth and glossy.
- No culinary torch: Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle each chilled custard with about 1 tablespoon of sugar and place the ramekins on a sheet pan. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the sugar melts and caramelizes. Watch very closely. Remove from the oven and let the sugar cool and harden before serving.
- Recipe inspired by Mastering the Art and Craft of Baking and Pastry from The Culinary Institute of America.
- The nutrition facts provided are estimates.
So so good! My first time making any sort of creme brûlée ever and it was perfect! My husband loves creme brûlée and I love chocolate so this will be a staple in our home from here on in! So easy to make too!
So, I just put these in the oven, but I realized that I never used the vanilla. When are we supposed to use it? Did I miss it in the instructions?
Hi Steve, We are sorry about that. We missed the vanilla in the recipe instructions. This has now been fixed. You can whisk in the vanilla before straining and dividing between ramekins. If you missed the vanilla, don’t worry, the creme brulee will still taste great.
Wow……what a great recipe…….much thanks!
Oh. My. You guys are over the top…in a good way.
Wendi! Thank you! I suppose this isn’t the best post for those who are getting ready for pool wear, but we did it anyway 🙂