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French Classics

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Crème brulée troubleshooting guide

Follow a few simple steps and you’ve mastered the classic crème brulée - easy as pie, right?
Not always. In case things don’t go according to plan, we’ve created a troubleshooting guide
to help you solve common pitfalls and get back on track to producing the perfect dessert.

My egg and sugar mixture doesn’t whiten or fluff up.
The trick to solving this problem is simple. Whisk harder if you’re whisking by hand or
increase the speed on your food processor. You might also need to whisk the mixture for a
little longer until the perfect fluffy consistency is achieved. This could take up to 10 minutes,
so don’t give up!

My custard looks like scrambled eggs.
If your mixture looks more like mushy egg than a creamy custard, you’ve applied too much
heat and have cooked the eggs too quickly. Oops. You can avoid this by whisking your
custard continuously while it cooks on a gentle heat. Use a spatula to scrape the corners and
bottom of the pot as you go. The golden rule is to apply too little heat rather than too much,
especially at the start.

Some areas of my caramel topping are darker than others.
To solve this problem, sprinkle the sugar onto the baked and cooled custard very evenly
before you start to burn it with the blowtorch. You’re looking for a thin layer of sugar that
allows you to almost see the custard beneath it. Melt all the sugar first by holding the torch

slightly further away (about 20cm from the sugar), then get in closer to add your golden
colour.

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