Creme brulee is my absolute favorite dish and dessert to make in the whole world. The first time I tried it, I fell in love with its rich texture, heavy vanilla flavor, sugar crust that cracks with the tap of a spoon, and the almost soothing feeling I experience as I take in every bite. I can’t get enough of it and neither can my family. My sister and her boyfriend love it so much, in fact, that the day after they tried it, they asked me to make another serving for them and waited until midnight to dig into this creamy, beloved dessert. I have gone on to make it for my extended family on Thanksgiving and I am so excited to share this wonderful food with anyone who wants it.
I normally visit a creme brulee recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction to make the best custard and sugar topping I can, but while I was sifting through recipes to try for this blog post, I found Anna Olson’s renditions of creme brulee and creme caramel – and they are just as good as Sally’s version!
I had never heard of creme caramel until I watched Anna Olson’s videos, but given its similarities to the classic creme brulee, I figured it would be a great idea to make these dishes around the same time, taste them, and deliver my thoughts on both. Keep reading for a detailed review on Anna Olson’s sweet treats!
Disclaimer: I have made slight modifications to these recipes to make them easier to bake and save money on ingredients that can easily be substituted for others. Remember to always heat your creme brulee to an internal temperature of 170 degrees!
Anna Olson’s Creme Caramel
Anna Olson’s creme caramel is very easy to make. If directions are followed perfectly, the recipe yields a delightful, flan-like treat that resembles the look and taste of Japanese pudding. Here are some of the dish’s best qualities:
– It has an airy, refreshing taste and is delightfully sweet without tasting overwhelming
– It is chilled to perfection and every bite makes it the ideal dessert to have on a hot summer day
– Its texture and consistency are wonderfully jiggly, soft, and easy to chew
– It’s a great alternative if you want something potentially easier to make than creme brulee – or something different that’s just as easy!
– The instructions are very straightforward (just be mindful of cooking the creme caramel the way Anna Olson suggests in her video)
– The caramel topping is very simple to achieve – in fact, I used this method to make the topping of Anna Olson’s creme brulee. It’s easier than torching or broiling sugar and it offers the most satisfying crack I’ve ever seen when making and eating creme brulee
– It plates nicely and is crowd-pleasing
Anna Olson’s Creme Brulee
Anna Olson’s creme brulee recipe is just as delicious and easy to follow as her creme caramel recipe. It delivers a satisfying serving of vanilla flavor and is even silkier and smoother in texture and consistency than the average creme brulee. Here are some of the rendition’s best qualities:
– It plates beautifully
– The addition of vanilla bean paste/fresh vanilla bean stalk makes the taste of Anna Olson’s recipe even more flavorful
– Olson’s method of including four egg yolks and one whole egg does indeed make the custard very silky and smooth. Every bite is very pleasant and does not feel too dense or rich as she explains in the video
– I could easily use her method of making caramel to create a creme brulee topping that’s even more fun to crack than the standard broiled/torched method! Check out this video to see how many taps of a spoon it took me to reach the custard. (For our more experienced readers, I obviously used too much sugar when making the crust, but it made such a cool candy shell regardless)!
If I had to choose between these two recipes, I have to say Anna Olson’s creme brulee is the best, as well as my favorite. Perhaps my bias for creme brulee is showing, but this is a dessert that just has to be shared once you master it. Who could ask for anything better than cracking through a sugar topping to unveil a beautifully chilled and sweet custard? Give it a try yourself and share with us your experience of making these creme caramel and creme brulee recipes! You might find yourself pleasantly surprised at how easy both are to make.