Spiced Crème Caramel
If you've got stale white bread slices and star anise, you're most of the way to this vegetarian: about 65 minutes of cooking across 7 steps. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for oven and pan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (2)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 160 C and butter four ramekins, then set a kettle to boil for a water bath.
- Make a caramel by melting the sugar in a dry pan over medium heat until it turns a deep amber, then divide it among the ramekins, swirling to coat the bases.
- Tear the stale bread, soak it in the 100 ml cold milk for a few minutes until soft, then squeeze out the excess and reserve.
- Gently warm the whole milk with the star anise and cinnamon stick until steaming but not boiling, then remove from the heat, cover, and let the spices infuse for 15 minutes before discarding them.
- Whisk the eggs with the condensed milk, then slowly pour in the warm spiced milk while whisking, blend in the soaked bread until fairly smooth, and strain the custard into the caramel-lined ramekins.
- Stand the ramekins in a roasting tin, pour in boiling water to come halfway up their sides, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the custards are just set with a slight wobble, reaching a safe internal temperature of about 72 C.
- Lift the ramekins from the water bath, cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 3 hours before turning out onto plates to serve.
You'll use: Oven · Pan · Saucepan · Blender · Whisk
Ingredient substitutions
- Milk
- any unsweetened plant milk · ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
- Eggs
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (baking) · 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water per egg
Tips & common questions
How long does Spiced Crème Caramel take to make?
About 65 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 9 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of milk?
Try any unsweetened plant milk. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Spiced Crème Caramel vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Spiced Crème Caramel is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Caramel custard PK020.jpg by PallaviKhale, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.