This Egg Nog Creme Brulee with Cranberry Sugar is a simple, make-ahead dessert that’s a sure-fire way to wow holiday guests. Very elegant and refined, this classic Christmas dessert gets a festive makeover from the flavors of egg nog, warm spices, and cranberry sugar.
Have you noticed that is seems all restaurants feel obligated to include one dessert on their dessert menus? Creme Brulee is a restaurant dessert staple for one reason, it’s absolutely delicious! You’ll have a hard time finding someone to turn down a perfectly made creme brulee with it’s cool custard and crunchy warm sugar topping. But while everyone loves it, most people are intimidated to make it at home.
After realizing that time after time, my husband and I would hands down always order creme brulee without hesitation, I was determined to master creme brulee at home and was shocked at just how simple it is! I now make Coffee Creme Brulee for my husband’s birthday, Chocolate Fudge Cream Brulee for Valentines Day, and this Egg Nog Creme Brulee with Cranberry Sugar for Christmas.
Egg Nog Crème Brulee with Cranberry Sugar Recipe
The cool, creamy custard has a rich egg nog flavor with just a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, and spiced rum. Of course, you could substitute vanilla extract and leave out the rum in you prefer. An easy, refined dessert bursting with holiday flavor that can be fully made ahead of time.
Fortunately, there are only a few steps and a handful of ingredients involved in turning heavy cream and egg nog into Egg Nog Creme Brulee. As simple as combining warm nog and cream with sugar and egg yolks, baking in a low oven before cooling and adding a sugar brulee topping. Really, that’s all it takes to serve a show-stopping dessert to your guests.
Ingredients
- 2 cups classic egg nog
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream 40% classic, also equal to 1 pint
- 6 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon spiced rum or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2-3 fresh cranberries
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300ºF.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine egg nog and cream.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in spiced rum.
- Meanwhile, whisk the sugar and salt into egg yolks until they are pale yellow.
- Place 6 shallow custard dishes on a large baking sheet or baking dish.
- Put some water on to boil.
- Place a fine mesh strainer over the bowl containing the egg yolks and pour 1/3 of the cooled egg nog mixture through the sieve into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk to temper, then stir in the remaining nog.
- Evenly separate custard into prepared dishes and place in preheated oven.
- Pour boiling water into the baking dish until it comes half way up the custard dishes.
- Bake for 45 minutes to one hour or until custard is firm but still a little wiggly.
- Chill for at least one hour.
- Top with cranberry sugar in an even layer and place under broiler until sugar melts and bubbles or caramelize with a kitchen torch.
- Place sugar, cinnamon, and cranberries in a small food processor. Pulse up to 5 times to combine. Cover and store refrigerated up to 7 days.
Notes
Home Chef Tip: Want more or less egg nog flavor? As long as there's 4 cups total liquid, feel free to adjust the cream to egg nog ratio.
Cranberry Sugar brulee brings extra fun holiday flare to the dish. Pulse granulated sugar with a few fresh cranberries to give the sugar a pale pink color and a brown sugar-like texture.
I love using cranberry sugar in place of regular sugar when entertaining! A cranberry sugar rim for cocktails or a dusting of the sparkling pink sugar on fresh fruit turns it all up a notch.
Egg Nog Creme Brulee can be made up to three days ahead of time.
Tightly cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Dust with sugar and caramelize the topping immediately before serving. By fully cooking ahead of time, you not only free up valuable oven space, but you also ensure that the custard remains creamy and cold, a stark contrast to the crispy hot caramelized coating.
The best thing about a classic recipe like this is once you master the method, you can get creative with the flavors. Add chocolate, stir in fruit jams, or plop a few fresh berries in the custard before baking. Infuse the milk with tea or spices. Think about your favorite flavor combinations. Get creative and have fun!
We hope you love this Egg Nog Creme Brulee with Cranberry Sugar from SoFabFood Home Chef, Tristin from One Armed Mama, as much as we do. If you enjoyed this delightful recipe, be sure to stop by our Desserts section to find more like it. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook and follow us on Pinterest. Enjoy!
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