Masala Chai Creme Brulee

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!

📝 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
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 5-6 green cardamom pods
• 4 black peppercorns
• 3 cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of nutmeg powder
• 1-2 teaspoons of caster sugar per ramekin
• toasted coconut chips
• cinnamon stick

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Preheat oven to 300 F degrees.
2. 2Separate eggs and place the yolks in a bowl. Eggs separate best when cold.
3. 3Add granulated sugar to egg yolks and whisk for 2-3 minutes or till sugar is completely dissolved and mixture turns pale yellow.
4. 4Add vanilla extract, whisk till combined and set aside.
5. 5In a pan, put heavy cream and coconut cream on medium heat.
6. 6Meanwhile using your spice grinder, grind green cardamom pods (with the skin), peppercorn and cloves.
7. 7Once the cream mixture heats a bit, add 2 black tea bags.
8. 8Now add the ground cardamom-clove-peppercorn mixture. Add ground ginger, cinnamon powder and nutmeg. Mix to combine.
9. 9Bring the mixture to a point where it starts to simmer.
10. 10Switch off heat and let the spices and tea bags steep in for 10-15 minutes so that the cream absorbs the flavors.
11. 11After 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. 12Divide the mixture equally among 4 round ramekins.
13. 13Transfer the ramekins to a pan and then fill the pan with boiling water till ramekins are half submerged in water.
14. 14Bake 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. 15Carefully 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. 16Once the custard is chilled, take the ramekins out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for around 15 minutes.
17. 17Sprinkle around 1-2 teaspoons of sugar on each dish, making sure it's properly covered with sugar.
18. 18Using 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. 19Top with some toasted coconut chips and garnish with a cinnamon stick and serve!