An easy Limoncello Crème Brûlée that needs no water bath and has all the lemon flavor you're craving! This fresh and zesty (and boozy) twist on a classic crème brûlée is the ideal dessert for lemon lovers.
Limoncello crème brûlée is one of my favorite lemon dinner party desserts to make as it is so easy and can be made ahead of time and quickly torched at the last minute. But guests are always so impressed with the crunchy sugar top and rich, creamy lemon pudding underneath.
Jump to:
Why this is the easiest crème brûlée recipe
- No water bath: To make traditional crème brûlée, whipped egg yolks, sugar, and hot cream are mixed together with vanilla pods before being baked in a hot water bath. But in my lemon crème brûlée easy version, you simply infuse lemon flavor into a basic custard mix and then bake in ramekins. No water bath, no stovetop, no hassle.
- No complex ingredients: Limoncello crème brûlée does not contain any complex ingredients and is very easy to make. All you need is pantry basics and, of course, Limoncello.
- Amazing taste and texture: Even though this is a cheat creme brulee, you still get the velvety smooth and rich texture and incredible natural flavor of lemons with a mild kick from the Limoncello. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference between this easy creme brulee and the classic version (and I'm a trained chef of French descent).
This is one of my favorite desserts of all time! if you love making fancy desserts, try my Eton Mess or elderflower jelly with prosecco and raspberry.
Ingredients
- Lemons: We use both lemon juice and lemon zest in this Italian creme brulee recipe. If you want to be really authentic, you can try and get hold of Femminello St. Teresa lemons, which are the lemons traditionally used to make Limoncello.
- Eggs: Unlike classic crème brûlée, we use whole eggs in this recipe. So both egg yolks and egg whites.
- Heavy cream: Buy high-quality homogenized cream (also known as double cream) for this recipe.
- Fine sugar: White sugar (caster sugar, fine granulated sugar) is fine for both the creamy custard mix and to sprinkle on top and brûléeing. You can use brown sugar or raw sugar for the brûlée if you prefer.
- Limoncello: Limoncello is a delicious Italian lemon liqueur made from lemon zest, traditionally served straight up as an ice-cold 'digestivo' after dinner.
See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full quantities and step-by-step instructions on how to make this easy Limoncello creme brulee recipe that is the perfect dessert for dinner parties.
Instructions
- Make the custard. Combine egg yolks and egg whites together in a large mixing bowl, and then stir in heavy cream sugar and squeeze in the lemon juice. Leave the whole discarded lemon peel in too. Whisk gently to incorporate fully. Cover the creamy lemon egg mixture with plastic food wrap and allow to infuse in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
- Preheat oven to 120 degrees Celsius/250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Strain mixture. Gently push the cream, sugar, lemon, egg white, and egg yolk mixture through a fine sieve to remove the lemon peel and seeds.
- Stir the Limoncello through the sieved custard mix and pour custard into shallow ramekins on an oven tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the Limoncello custard still has a very slight jiggle or ripple at the center. Remove to a wire rack or silicon mat. It will continue to set as it cools completely back down to room temperature.
- Sprinkle sugar over the surface of the entire dessert to form a sugar layer so that it covers the entire area all the way to the sides of the ramekins.
- Brulee the sugar crust with a kitchen torch until it bubbles and goes brown and hard. Alternatively, return the ramekins of Limoncello creme brulee to the tray and place them under the broiler but watch the sugar topping carefully as the sugar melts so that it does not burn.
- Serve immediately.
Top tip
To avoid spilling creme brulee, slide out the oven shelf, then put the baking sheet of ramekins onto it and pour cream mixture into the ramekins from there. The issue here is that the oven door will be open for a while, and this will result in a loss of temperature. So preheat the oven hotter than you need to allow for this, and turn it down once the Limoncello creme brulees are in. Use an oven temperature to bake at the right temperature.
Wine pairing for lemon creme brulee
I'd recommend a Marsala dessert wine with Limoncello creme brulee. Marsala is a fortified wine from Sicily (and you can also use it to make dishes like Ina Garten chicken marsala). Limoncello creme brulee is a tough dessert to wine pair because it's rich, creamy, very sweet, and very lemony. Which makes it delicious but a wine-pairing challenge! Marsala has an intense, sweet flavor and is strong enough to stand up to Limoncello creme brulee. Read my post on basic food and wine pairing tips to learn more about elevating your home cooking with wine pairings.
However, as this is a recipe for homemade creme brulee with alcohol, it would make the most sense to serve it with Limoncello. Serve Limoncello ice cold in shot glasses, the Italian way.
Serving suggestions
If making this easy dessert for a dinner party, I'd recommend making the custard mix in the morning and letting it infuse in the fridge all day. Bake the limoncello custard late afternoon and brulee at the last minute before serving for optimum crunch. The crunchy sugar topping will soften over time.
Lemon is a natural partner to raspberries, so if you wanted to serve a sauce with this dessert, I'd recommend a raspberry sauce or coulis. Or fresh raspberries as a garnish! If you're looking for other summer dessert recipes, try this delicious passion fruit cheesecake.
Equipment
A kitchen torch or mini blow torch is the easiest way to brulee sugar topping. I'd also recommend pouring the lemon custard mix into ramekins from a jug to avoid spillage.
Ideally, try to use wide and shallow ramekins that will allow for a depth of 1-1.5 inches of lemon custard brulee. I find that 8-ounce ramekins are around the right volume for an individual portion. You can use taller ramekins, but traditionally, creme brulee is a relatively thin layer topped with hard caramelized sugar. So I prefer to use a wider, shallow dish.
Storage
Cover and store leftover creme brulee in the fridge and consume within 2-3 days. The crunchy sugar crust will dissolve over time and will no longer be crunchy, so do try and wait to do this step until just before eating.
FAQ
Crème brûlée translates from French to English as 'burnt cream'.
Creme brulee should be served at room temperature. If you prepare creme brulee custard in advance, refrigerate custard until needed and then brulee at the last minute.
Limoncello should be ice cold. Keep Limoncello in the fridge, and 30 minutes before serving, place it in the freezer. Serve Limoncello straight in a shot glass. A serving size is 50 ml Limoncello per person.
Traditional creme brulee has vanilla bean. In this easy Limoncello creme brulee, lemon is the predominant flavor, so it is not needed. If you do want to add vanilla, discard vanilla pod when straining the mixture.
Other dessert recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Dinner party planning
📖 Recipe
Easy Limoncello Crème Brûlée (no water bath)
Equipment
- 4 ramekins
- 1 baking sheet
Ingredients
- 3 Lemons
- 6 Eggs Medium size, approx 300 grams of eggs
- 180 grams (1 cups) White sugar plus extra for sugar crust
- 270 ml (1.2 cups) Heavy cream
- 75 ml (2.5 floz) Limoncello
Instructions
- Make the custard. Combine the eggs together in a large mixing bowl, and then stir in heavy cream sugar and squeeze in the lemon juice, and add the lemon skins too. Leave the whole discarded lemon peel in too. Cover and allow to infuse in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
- Preheat oven to 120 degrees Celsius/250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Sieve the mixture and stir through the Limoncello.
- Pour the Limoncello creme brulee mixture into ramekins on a baking tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the Limoncello custard still has a very slight jiggle or ripple at the center.
- Sprinkle sugar over the surface of the entire dessert to form a sugar layer.
- Brulee the sugar crust with a kitchen torch or under the broiler/oven grill until it bubbles and goes brown and hard.
- Serve immediately.
GRETA says
This was on of the best Crème Brûlée I ever had...and I am not exaggerating. The texture was perfect, ingredients weren't overpowering and was just the perfect taste. I will do this again. Thanks.
Addison says
I absolutely loved this dessert! So creamy, smooth and flavorful!
Michelle says
This Crème Brûlée had nice citrusy flavour, the custard is perfectly balanced with the tangy sweetness of the limoncello, and the crispy caramelized sugar topping adds the perfect crunch to top it off.
Kate says
I loved every single bit of my crème brulee! The limoncello added the perfect taste!