Creme Brûlée Cake
This perfect creme brûlée cake is an extra soft and moist vanilla cake, soaked with sweet vanilla milk, frosted with silky vanilla pastry cream and caramelized brûléed sugar. It’s so incredibly soft, packed full of vanilla flavor, with the most irresistible texture from the vanilla milk soak and pastry cream. A truly delightful treat!
Why you’ll love this creme brûlée cake
- Perfectly soft and delicate vanilla white cake– This cake is incredibly soft and flavored with lots of vanilla bean paste, to give it the strongest vanilla flavor. The buttermilk works together in the cake batter with the creamed butter and well mixed eggs to give the cake the most fluffy and soft texture.
- Vanilla milk soak- Whole milk and sweetened condensed milk are mixed together with vanilla bean paste. After the cake bakes, it will get poked with small holes, and this delicious mixture will get poured over the cake, allowing it to soak up all that sweet vanilla goodness!
- Vanilla pastry cream- I can’t even tell you how good it is. So creamy, so vanilla-y, so lush!
- Brûléed sugar topping- The best part of this cake is cracking that perfectly caramelized sugar topping!
For the full recipe, including measurements, step by step instructions, and bake time, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a brief overview!
Tips for baking a soft and moist creme brulee cake
Room Temperature Ingredients- You’ll have the best textured cake if you use room temperature ingredients instead of cold. Cold wet ingredients, like eggs and buttermilk, can cause the cake to bake with more of a gummy consistency, and we don’t want that. We want a moist and fluffy cake!
Mixing the Batter- You’ll want to cream the butter and sugar together until pale in color and fluffy, and the eggs should be mixed in until smooth. It’s okay at this point to mix a lot, as we’re adding air into the eggs, helping to give the batter a “lift”. However, mix the dry ingredients on low speed just until they are blended into the wet ingredients to avoid an overly dense cake.
Measuring Your Flour Properly- If you learn anything from making this recipe, please let it be this: measure your flour (and all other ingredients) with a digital kitchen scale. Please don’t bring me to tears; don’t scoop your measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to inaccurate flour measurements and therefore, a wonky bake.
Baking Pan- I recommend using a light colored, metal baking pan. This will help to ensure that the cake gets baked evenly. A glass or dark colored baking pan can cause baking variations, like the cake baking too quickly, being over-baked in some areas, while not baked in others.
Creme Brûlée Cake FAQs
Yes you do. I have this one that is a large culinary torch and gets the job done quickly! Unfortunately, you can’t just use an oven broiler because it will melt the pastry cream right off the cake.
I have been on my own gluten free journey lately and have found that most of my recipes turn out great GF- Hooray! There is a caveat though, I can only say the recipe will come out good with Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour. This is not sponsored, but my true opinion. This is the only gluten free flour I use as it bakes most similarly to regular, all-purpose flour.
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can easily make it but mixing 1 cup (240 ml) of whole milk with 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar.
If you make this cake please leave a star review! Also, tag me on Instagram @inbloombakery_ so I can see your creation! Follow me on Pinterest for other dessert ideas!
Creme Brûlée Cake
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 2 1/4 cups (540 ml) whole milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp (225 g) granulated white sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 1/2 tbsp (28 g) cornstarch
- 3 tbsp (42 g) unsalted butter, cold and cut in cubes
For the Vanilla Cake
- 2 1/4 cups (281 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
For the Vanilla Milk Soak
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) half & half, or whole milk
- 1/2 cup (120 ml/150 g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/3-1/2 cup (66-100 g) granulated white sugar (for the brûlée topping)
Instructions
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
- In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium-low heat just until it’s steaming. Then, turn heat down to low until ready to use.2 1/4 cups (540 ml) whole milk
- To a large bowl add the egg yolks, sugar, salt, vanilla, and cornstarch and whisk until combined and a pale-yellow color. (It will be thick at first but will get smooth as you whisk.)6 egg yolks, 1 cup + 2 tbsp (225 g) granulated white sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste, 3 1/2 tbsp (28 g) cornstarch
- Add in 1/4 of the heated milk while stirring vigorously. Then, add the rest in and stir to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to the saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat and cook for 12-15 minutes, whisking continuously, until the mixture is thick and soft peaks form.
- Remove the pastry cream from the heat and transfer it to a bowl. Add in the butter and mix to combine. Place plastic wrap right on top of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill it in the fridge until completely cold.3 tbsp (42 g) unsalted butter, cold and cut in cubes
For the Vanilla Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175 ℃). Grease a 9×9in pan and line it with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then set aside the flour mixture.2 1/4 cups (281 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Add the softened butter and granulated white sugar to a large bowl. Cream together for 2 minutes with an electric mixer.(You can also use the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.)10 tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter, softened, 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated white sugar
- Then add in the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until pale in color and smooth, about 1 minute.3 large eggs, at room temperature, 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the wet ingredients a little at a time, mixing on low speed until the cake batter is combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary.1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 39-44 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Carefully pull up on the parchment paper to release the cake from the pan, then continue to cool it on the wire rack until completely cooled.
For the Vanilla Milk Soak
- In a liquid measuring cup, whisk the half & half, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla together. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.1/2 cup (120 ml) half & half, or whole milk, 1/2 cup (120 ml/150 g) sweetened condensed milk, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Assembling the Cake
- When the cake is completely cooled, cut a very thin layer off the top of the cake off using a sharp knife. This will make it easier for the vanilla milk to absorb into the cake. Transfer it to a serving plate. Poke holes on the top of the cake using a wooden stick or the handle of a wooden spoon.
- Slowly pour the vanilla milk mixture on top of the cake. It is thin so it should absorb into the cake and the poked holes easily, but do be patient as it does.
- Spoon the chilled vanilla pastry cream on top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to smooth it out.
- Cut the cake into 16 squares.
- Sprinkle sugar over each piece of cake. Use a kitchen torch to brûlée the sugar until it is golden brown and smells like roasted marshmallows. Then, enjoy! 🙂(Add the pastry cream on top of the cake right before you're ready to serve it. After a few hours the brûlée topping will start to melt, so you'll want to enjoy the cake right away.)1/3-1/2 cup (66-100 g) granulated white sugar (for the brûlée topping)
Can the cake have apples in it?
The recipe looks really yummy, and I was thinking of making this for my dad’s birthday. However, he really loves apple desserts and I was curious if the cake batter would be able to hold thinly sliced apples?
It was lovely and so moist! So yummy!!
My friends loved it!