I forgot to order keto cupcakes before my birthday. (Yes, maybe my husband could have done that but he does a lot of other amazing things for me.) The silver lining is this keto crème brulee.
Unlike non-keto crème brulee, I actually prefer this version without the caramelized topping because I find that erythritol make my mouth feel cool. Not tingly, just cool. It’s a little weird and interesting so maybe you’ll be curious and give it a try. But I did try to be sure and yes, Swerve does caramelize with a culinary torch. Score another ten points for erythritol. Without the torched sugar topping, you could call this one Pot au Crème and still feel pretty darn fancy and fabulous about it all.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 quart heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped (or 1 tbsp vanilla). I am lucky enough to have vanilla bean but found it went to the bottom of my dishes (likely because I don’t use real sugar), so don’t worry if you have vanilla extract
- ½ cup confectioners’ style Swerve
- 6 large egg yolks
- 6 tbsp granulated Swerve (for caramelizing)
HOW TO
Preheat your oven to 325 F. Like cheesecake, baking crème brulee in a water bath will keep it from cracking. So figure out how many little round ramekins or other oven-safe dishes you can fit into a pan you would use for brownies or casserole. Fill it up about an inch or so with water, and put it in the oven to heat up with the space. Make sure it’s not so full of water that water will spill over your crème brulee dishes when you gently add them to the water bath for baking.
Time to make magic. Put the cream, vanilla (or vanilla bean) into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Be careful not to allow it to boil over because it will make a giant mess. Once it reaches a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and allow it to sit for 15 minutes.
In another bowl (or using a stand mixer), whisk together your ½ cup of Swerve confectioner’s sugar and the egg yolks. Then add the vanilla cream mixture, a little at a time while stirring. Once mixed, fill your ramekins (or other small oven-safe dishes). Place them gently into the warm water bath in your oven, taking care with the hot water. Silicone oven mitts are a great help here.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes, until the crème brulee is set but still a little wobbly in the center.
Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan. Refrigerate for at least two hours, but you can keep them in the fridge for up to three days, which makes it easy if you want to prep in advance for a special occasion.
Once ready to serve, take them out 15 minutes before you will (literally) take a torch to them. You can serve them without carmelizing the top layer, but if you want to give it a go, spoon about 1 tbsp granulated Sweve on top of each dish, then use a culinary torch to fire up the surface and create that crispy caramel topping. Allow them to cool for five minutes before serving – fire is hot, erythritol is cold – so here you have your fire and ice. Enjoy!