Masala Chai Creme Brulee, an Indian take on the classic dessert! This creme brulee has all the flavors of chai with a touch of coconut!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: French, Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup coconut cream (or use full fat coconut milk)
  • 2 black tea bags
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 4 tablespoons granulated white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

chai spices

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • 5-6 green cardamom pods
  • 4 black peppercorns
  • 3 cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • pinch of nutmeg powder

Topping

  • 1-2 teaspoons of caster sugar per ramekin

To serve

  • toasted coconut chips
  • cinnamon stick

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 300 F degrees.
  2. Separate eggs and place the yolks in a bowl. Eggs separate best when cold.
  3. Add granulated sugar to egg yolks and whisk for 2-3 minutes or till sugar is completely dissolved and mixture turns pale yellow.
  4. Add vanilla extract, whisk till combined and set aside.
  5. In a pan, put heavy cream and coconut cream on medium heat.
  6. Meanwhile using your spice grinder, grind green cardamom pods (with the skin), peppercorn and cloves.
  7. Once the cream mixture heats a bit, add 2 black tea bags.
  8. Now add the ground cardamom-clove-peppercorn mixture. Add ground ginger, cinnamon powder and nutmeg. Mix to combine.
  9. Bring the mixture to a point where it starts to simmer.
  10. Switch off heat and let the spices and tea bags steep in for 10-15 minutes so that the cream absorbs the flavors.
  11. After 10-15 minutes, remove the tea bags from the mixture [make sure you press the tea bags with a spooon while removing them so that more chai flavors gets incorporated into the custard] and then add the cream to the egg yolk-sugar mixture, little at a time, stirring continuously.
  12. Divide the mixture equally among 4 round ramekins.
  13. Transfer the ramekins to a pan and then fill the pan with boiling water till ramekins are half submerged in water.
  14. Bake at 300 F degrees for 40 minutes or until the custard appears set but still jiggles a bit. if your ramekins aren't deep like mine, this will be done in 25-30 minutes.
  15. Carefully remove the ramekins from the pan and let them cool completely. Once cooled, wrap and chill overnight or for a minimum for 4 hours.
  16. Once the custard is chilled, take the ramekins out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for around 15 minutes.
  17. Sprinkle around 1-2 teaspoons of sugar on each dish, making sure it's properly covered with sugar.
  18. Using your kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar, it will turn hard and crispy. You can also do this step of melting the sugar in the oven, on broil.
  19. Top with some toasted coconut chips and garnish with a cinnamon stick and serve!

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.