Don’t you just love crème brûlée?? And adding chocolate to it makes it that much better. Let’s go another step and remove the sugar, so you can enjoy this creamy chocolate dessert without all the guilt.
What is crème brûlée?
Crème Brûlée is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar, that cracks when you gently tap it with a spoon. But, in this version, I use sugar free ingredients, which makes it less guilty to eat!
What main ingredients are needed for this Guilt-Free Chocolate Crème Brûlée?
Eggs- Just the egg yolks are used in Crème Brûlée. Egg whites help set pudding, giving it a firmer texture. Crème brûlée should be slightly moveable, tender and creamy. So egg whites are not added to the recipe.
Heavy cream- Heavy whipping cream is needed to give the crème brûlée a rich silky texture.
Chocolate- Lily’s Extremely Dark Chocolate Bar is a sugar-free chocolate which is perfect for this sugar-free dessert.
Sugar- Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener is used in the recipe, but any sugar substitute will work as well.
How is this Chocolate Crème Brûlée Keto friendly?
This Chocolate Crème Brûlée is made with Lily’s Extremely Dark Chocolate Bar, which is made with the sugar substitute, Stevia and is low carb. The rest of the ingredients in the dessert, heavy cream, vanilla, monkfruit sweetener and egg yolks, is keto friendly.
How is this Guilt-Free Chocolate Crème Brûlée made?
Warm the heavy cream and sugar free chocolate in a saucepan over medium heat until the chocolate is melted. You don’t want the mixture to boil. Just let it come to a slight simmer.
Whisk the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar substitute in a separate bowl. You want to whisk them until they are lighter in color and a bit fluffy. Then, slowly pour in the chocolate cream a little at a time, to temper egg yolks while whisking mixture between each pour. This is done so that the eggs don’t get cooked by the hot mixture, which would happen if you poured the mixture in all at once.
Add in the vanilla extract, then strain the mixture into a large measuring cup. Straining the chocolate cream mixture will get out any small pieces of cooked egg that my have formed while tempering the eggs.
Pour the mixture equally into four 6 ounce ramekins. The ramekins can be wide and shallow or more narrow and deep. Either type is fine.
Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and place the sheet into the oven. Pour hot water onto the baking sheet, halfway up the sides of the ramekins to make a water bath. Baking the crème brûlée in a water bath keeps the air in the oven moist, and prevents the crème brûlées from cracking.
Bake until the centers look just set. Refrigerate them until cold.
How is the sugar top made?
Crème brûlée has a customary layer of hardened caramelized sugar on top. It’s typically made with granulated sugar that is hardened using a hand torch.
For this sugar-free version, instead of granulated sugar, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar substitute evenly over the top of each creme brulee. Use a hand torch to slightly caramelize the sugar on top. It won’t caramelize as well as regular sugar, but, it will still make a hardened top shell.
This Guilt-Free Chocolate Crème Brûlée is to try when you’re cutting back, but have a chocolate craving. Rich, creamy, low carb, sugar and guilt free!
Commonly Asked Questions:
Do you have to use a hand blow torch to caramelize the tops of the crème brûlées?
If you don’t have a hand torch, you can place the ramekins on a baking sheet and place in your oven’s broiler on high heat until the tops are browned and brûléed.
Does the water poured in the pan around the ramekins need to be boiling?
The water for the water bath should be boiling so that the custard cook faster. If you use cold water, it will take longer for the custard to bake and add to your baking time.
Can you freeze crème brûlée?
To freeze the crème brûlées, make the recipe and bake the custard-filled ramekins. Once completely chilled, seal completely with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 1 month. When ready to serve, thaw them custards in the refrigerator overnight and then sprinkle with sugar substitute and torch.
Can this recipe be made regularly without using sugar-free ingredients?
If you want a non-sugar free version, replace the sugar free chocolate with semisweet chocolate and use granulated sugar in place of the sugar substitute.
Looking for other sugar-free recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Keto Chocolate Cheesecake Cake
Sugar-Free Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cups
Guilt-Free Chocolate Crème Brûlée
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar substitute like Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 bar Lily's Extremely Dark Chocolate
- 4 egg yolks, from large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp sugar substitute
Instructions
- Place heavy whipping cream in a stainless steel saucepan over low heat. Heat until it begins to simmer. Do not let it boil. Add the chopped sugar free chocolate bar and whisk until fully melted and blended.In a bowl, with a hand mixer, whisk the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar substitute for 1-2 minutes until pale and thick.While whisking the egg mixture, slowly pour in the chocolate cream a little at a time, to temper egg yolks. Keep whisking mixture between each pour. Mix in the vanilla extract.Once fully mixed, strain the mixture into a large measuring cup, then pour equally into four 6 ounce ramekins.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and place the sheet into the oven. Pour hot water onto the baking sheet, halfway up the sides of the ramekins.Bake for 45 minutes or until the centers look just set.Remove the ramekins from the baking pan and set on a cooling rack to cool to room temperature for about an hour. Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator to set, for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days. When ready to serve, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar substitute evenly over the top of each creme brulee. Use a hand torch or place ramekin until a broiler on high heat to slightly caramelize the sugar on top.
