By
Claire Lower
Date
March 1, 2024
Without a crackling layer of hard, caramelized sugar, crème brûlée is nothing more than vanilla pudding. (Really good vanilla pudding, but still.) The torched top should be thin, brittle and easy to crack with your spoon. It should not bend, and it should be a deep, even golden brown, never burnt black. This all hinges on the sugar and heat, so we grabbed our torches to determine which one brûlées the best.
You should get a kitchen torch
While you technically can brûlée under the broiler, broilers vary greatly from oven to oven, and rarely deliver even heat. A kitchen or plumber’s torch lets you control how much heat the sugar sees, allowing you to adjust the flame while directing it exactly where you want it. And they’re pretty cheap. You can find them at your local restaurant supply store, or order one online for about 15 bucks.
Brown sugar delivers dark and spotty results
Brown sugar has the texture of slightly damp sand, which is a fun sensory experience but terrible for caramelization. It also contains anywhere from 3% to 10% of molasses, and was the quickest to burn. This makes sense, as molasses burns at 250℉, a whole 100 degrees below sucrose (table sugar), which doesn’t burn until it reaches 350℉.
It burned so quickly, the sugar crystals didn’t even have time to melt fully. This gave the crème a mottled, splotchy appearance. None of the sugar ever truly caramelized. Instead, the sugar formed a partially melted base layer, riddled with acrid burnt spots.
Powdered sugar absorbs too much moisture
Powdered sugar suffered for one reason: particle size. Sugar is already prone to absorbing some moisture, and pulverizing it into tiny particles increases the surface area, making it even more likely to grab on to any available moisture. Sprinkle it on a creamy custard, and it’s going to drink it up, preventing caramelization in some spots, and weakening the snap of your brûlée.
The fluffy sugar is also prone to being buffeted about by the force of the torch, which can be messy, but also causes the sugar to clump up into little mounds that burst into tiny flames, leading to burnt spots. It’s kind of exciting, but not so delicious.
Turbinado sugar is just too big
Turbinado sugar is a less-processed cane sugar, with big, crunchy crystals and a small amount of naturally-occurring molasses. Not only is the molasses prone to burning at the low-ish temp of 250℉, but the large crystal size translates to slow melting, resulting in uneven caramelization and big burnt splotches.
The splotches didn’t harden all that well either. Instead of a crackly, caramelized layer of brittle sugar, it was gummy in spots, and no fun to crack with a spoon.
Regular table sugar is just right
Don’t you love it when the best option is the cheapest, the most widely available, and the most versatile? Plain old table sugar, with its small crystal size, melted evenly and caramelized well, forming a thin, shatteringly crisp layer on top of the custard. In short—perfect.
For best results, make sure to apply your sugar in an even layer. About 1 teaspoon for a 6-ounce ramekin is plenty, whether you’re making a classic crème brûlée or our brûléed Turkish Rice Pudding. Tap all around the edges of the ramekin to form an even layer, then torch with smooth sweeping motions, holding the flame a few inches from the sugar. Let cool until completely hardened, then crack in.
Photos by Kevin Clark
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