This creamy, floral Thai Tea Crème Brûlée combines the rich texture of classic crème brûlée with the traditional flavors of Thai iced tea. It’s thick and luscious, featuring the signature caramelized top and a distinctive, unique taste.
I love a crème brûlée. It's so simple, yet an absolute treat. I also love a Thai Iced Tea. It's floral, warm spiced, and such a uniquely flavorful tea. Why not combine the two into something so perfect? It's a Thai milk tea in custard form!
Combining unique flavors with a classic dessert makes it nostalgic, but new and special at the same time. Try some more flavor combinations in this Eggnog Crème Brûlée, Thai Tea Ice Cream (No Churn), and Ube Cheesecake.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Creamy custard - the Thai tea custard is perfectly baked in a hot water bath so it's smooth as silk and expertly set.
Floral flavor - Thai tea gives this creme brûlée its signature bright orange color and lightly spiced flavor with hints of cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, and orange blossom.
Caramelized tops - can we all agree that the best part of a creme brûlée is cracking into that caramelized top? This recipe uses a double sugaring method to create an epic crack and crunch.
The Story of Thai Tea
Thai tea is a black tea called Ceylon and includes other flavors like tamarind, star anise, and red and yellow food coloring. The food coloring is what gives it the classic orange color, which was likely added to differentiate Thai Tea from Thai Coffee, as they were both very similar in color.
Read about the origins of Thai Tea to learn more.
Thai Iced Tea is a chilled tea that can be mixed with various milks/sweeteners (sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, coconut milk, evaporated milk etc) depending on the region in Thailand, or preference in general!
Ingredients
This is a classic crème brûlée base recipe, with some Thai tea steeped into the milk to add a unique flavor and color. Here are all of the ingredients required for this easy crème brûlée recipe!
- Thai tea mix. Pantai brand is my favorite to make a refreshing Thai iced tea, and is also my preferred tea to make Thai tea desserts. You can find this in most Asian markets or on Amazon.
- Eggs. Just the egg yolks are used to thicken the custard and make for a rich base. Use up the extra egg whites by making these mini pavlovas!
- Milk. This is used to steep the tea. Since it's thinner than cream, it allows the tea to release it's flavor and color more easily than with heavy cream.
- Heavy whipping cream. This is the main base that makes for a rich, creamy baked custard. Look for at least 36% milk fat.
- Sugar. Standard granulated sugar provides the right amount of sweetness for this creme brûlée, and also helps to get those perfectly caramelized tops.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use canned coconut milk in place of heavy whipping cream.
How to Make This Recipe
One: Whisk together the egg yolks until light and fluffy.
Two: Steep the tea in milk until hot, then straight through a fine mesh sieve, pushing out as much liquid as possible from the Thai tea leaves.
Three: Add ladlefuls of the hot milk tea to the egg yolks and whisk to temper the mixture.
Four: Pour everything back into the pot and whisk until simmering on the sides and the custard begins to thicken slights.
Five: Add the 4oz ramekins to a casserole dish. Ladle the Thai tea mixture evenly into the ramekins.
Six: Pour boiling hot water into the casserole dish in between the ramekins (filling halfway), then bake.
Hot tip! After baking, remove the ramekins from the hot water immediately so they don't overcook. Use a pair of tongs and a dish towel to do this safely.
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How to Caramelize the Tops of Crème Brûlée
Add a spoonful of sugar to the top of one ramekin. Tap the sugar around to coat the top, then pour out the excess sugar onto another ramekin It should be a very thin layer. Use a kitchen torch on medium flame to caramelize the first layer of sugar by moving the fire slowly across the sugar.
Allow it to cool for a minute, then sprinkle on another even layer, this time with your fingers (don't dump excess). Torch the sugar again until caramelized. The double layer of sugar makes for the best crack!
Seven: Add a thin layer of sugar to the cooled custard and torch.
Eight: A a second layer of sugar and torch one more time before serving.
Expert Tips
- Place the pan with the filled ramekins on a pulled out rack in the oven, then pour the boiling water into the pan. This eliminates transferring the pan to the oven while full and potentially sloshing water into the custard.
- If you want to use a thermometer to check for doneness, the custard is food safe at 150℉. This is a very creamy, thin custard. I like to cook mine to about 157℉, which is slightly more set, but still incredibly creamy.
- Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar and create the cracked tops. This is the most reliable and even method (rather than using an oven broiler).
How to Make Creme Brûlée without a Kitchen Torch
To brûlée the sugar under a broiler, set the broiler to high and allow it to get very hot. Move an oven rack as close to the broiler as possible.
Place the sugared ramekins on a cookie sheet, then broil until the sugar becomes caramelized. Watch the entire process and don't walk away. Move and rotate ramekins, as needed, to catch the hot spots.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the custard to re-set before serving.
Recipe FAQs
The outer edges will be set, but the center should still be jiggly (not sloshy) when the ramekin is tapped. The custard will finish cooking during the cooling process.
If the custard becomes puffy during baking, it has been overcooked. Overcooking the custard will still taste delicious, but it will be much thicker, eggy, and curdled looking.
You don't have to use a kitchen torch, but you should. It's the easiest and most reliable way to control the caramelization of the sugar. Using the broil function in the oven can be uneven and can heat up the custard too much, potentially causing it to break or separate.
YES. This is best made ahead of time so it has ample time to chill. Only add the sugar and brûlée when you're ready to serve it, otherwise, the sugar will soften and hydrate in the fridge and will turn syrupy rather the coveted cracking texture.
Pretty much any sized ramekin can be used, but you can also use a baking dish, bread loaf pan, oven safe cups or mugs, etc. Anything that is oven safe! Keep in mind that the 4oz ramekins for this recipe hold ½ cup of liquid which fills to about 1.5u0022 high. If you use a vessel that is deeper, the bake time will be longer. If using a vessel that is more shallow, bake time will be less.
Storage
Store the baked thai milk tea custard uncovered in the fridge for up to 5 days. When ready, add the sugar and torch the tops.
I don't recommend storing caramelized creme brûlées, as the sugar turns to syrup after about a day.
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What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
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- If you'd like to make the recipe in a different pan, use the pan size converter.
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📖Recipe
Thai Tea Crème Brûlée
Equipment
- Six, 4oz ramekins
- 13x9” casserole dish
- Cheesecloth (optional)
- Large measuring cup or bowl
Ingredients
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup Thai tea mix
- 4 large egg yolks room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- Pinch kosher salt
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar for brûlée
Instructions
- Add the milk, heavy cream, and Thai tea mix to a saucepan, stir, and steep the tea on low for about 5-7 minutes until warm and steaming. Continue stirring occasionally.½ cup whole milk, 2 cups heavy whipping cream, ⅓ cup Thai tea mix
- Separate 4 eggs, reserving the whites for another time.4 large egg yolks
- Preheat the oven to 325℉ and add the empty ramekins to a 13x9” casserole dish. Set aside.
- Strain the cream through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove the large pieces of tea, then rinse out the pot to remove all pieces.
- Note: some specks of tea will remain, this is ok.
- Transfer the mixture to the cleaned pot and add the sugar and salt. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and it comes to a very low simmer.½ cup granulated sugar, Pinch kosher salt
- During this time, vigorously whisk the egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl for about 1 minute. The mixture will become a bit lighter in color and slightly airy.
- Once the cream comes to a simmer, drizzle in one ladle full of cream to the egg mixture while whisking. Do the same with a second ladle, then transfer the egg mixture into the pot with the cream. Whisk immediately until combined. Ladle the mixture evenly between the ramekins.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. The custard will still feel rather sloshy and jiggly, but will be slightly set on the edges.
- Remove from the oven, and very carefully transfer the ramekins to a wire rack to cool using tongs and a dish towel. Keeping them in the water will cause the custard to overcook. Cool for 30 minutes, then transfer to the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight (uncovered).
- When ready to serve, add a spoonful of sugar to the top of one ramekin, rotate the ramekin to spread evenly, then dump the excess sugar to the next ramekin and repeat.⅓ cup granulated sugar
- Use a kitchen torch to brûlée the sugar until caramelized. Then, sprinkle on a thin layer of sugar with your fingers and brûlée again. This double method creates the best crust and crack.
- Serve immediately.
ISHANEE MISHRA says
Can I substitute anything else for egg yolk?
Callan Wenner says
Hi Ishanee, unfortunately, not in this recipe. The base structure and texture is created specifically from the eggs. I'll bet there are some vegan creme brulee recipes you could search for and then try steeping the liquid with the thai tea leaves for an experimental swap!