This crème brûlée pie is silky smooth, with a crunchy sugar top that shatters when tapped. It’s infused with earl grey tea and has a chocolate crust for the perfect tea twist! This pie is easy and simple to make, yet so elegant. It’s the perfect dessert to impress for brunch, dinner, and tea-time.
You can customize this crème brûlée pie with your favorite tea or omit the tea leaves for a simple, classic vanilla bean flavor.
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🥧 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Smooth and creamy: The crème brûlée filling is silky smooth and creamy, contrasting with the crunchy burnt sugar topping.
- Quick and easy: The pie filling is so quick and easy to make, no electric mixer needed. I used a premade chocolate crumb crust to make it even easier.
- Vanilla earl grey flavor: Steeping a vanilla bean and earl grey tea into the cream creates the most incredible floral earl grey creme brulee flavor.
- Chocolate crumb crust: A premade chocolate crust gives this pie a rich, brownie-like crust which works so beautifully with the earl grey flavor.
This recipe was inspired by my individual earl grey crème brûlée recipe.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
Earl grey tea: I love infusing creme brulee with earl grey tea leaves! Both looseleaf and teabags work well in this recipe. You can use cream of earl grey or even lavender earl grey for a twist! I used lavender earl grey tea.
If you don’t want an earl grey creme brulee pie, you can leave out the tea for a simple yet elegant vanilla creme brulee pie.
Idea: experiment with other tea flavors for a fun twist!
Vanilla bean: Infusing the cream with a whole vanilla bean gives the filling a strong vanilla flavor that is just so delicious. Alternatively, you can use vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract.
Pie crust: I used a pre-made (Mi-del) chocolate crumb crust for a rich brownie-like crust that contrasted and complemented the earl grey creme brulee filling beautifully! You can use any premade crumb crust you like or make your own. A pre-baked pastry crust will also work beautifully!
Cream: Heavy whipping cream is key to allow the pie to set firmly. I used 35% cream - 32% will also work great.
Egg yolks: This will give the pie that creme brulee custardy flavor and texture. If using smaller eggs, add an extra yolk to ensure the perfectly set pie.
👩🍳 How to make lemon meringue cookies
Crème brûlée pie step by step
Prep: Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C).
Step 1: Slice vanilla bean pod in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a knife. Place the seeds and the bean pod into a medium saucepan. Add the cream and earl grey tea leaves (optional).
Step 2: Heat the cream on medium low heat until steaming hot, don’t let it boil! Once steaming hot, take the saucepan off the heat and let the vanilla and tea steep for 10 minutes.
Remove the tea leaves and vanilla pod from the cream. Squeeze the teabag well to release all of that flavor. If you’re using looseleaf tea, strain the leaves out.
Step 3: While the cream steeps, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt until just combined - don’t mix until foamy. Set aside.
Step 4: Slowly, half a cup at a time, add the steeped cream into the yolk mixture, whisking well. Gradually add the rest of the cream and whisk well throughout.
Step 5: Place the pie crust on a larger baking pan. Pour the cream and egg mixture into the pie crust. If using a crumb crust (like I did), pour the cream on top of a spatula into the crust to prevent the bottom of the crust from being disturbed.
Step 6: Bake the pie for 30-35 minutes just until the center is set and not liquidy. The center should still be slightly jiggly. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the pie to chill completely, about 3 hours.
Step 7: Before serving, cover the top of the pie liberally with 3 tablespoons of sugar. Broil the top with a kitchen torch or under the broiler setting in the oven.
Step 8: Crack the top of the pie with the back of the spoon to make it easier to slice. Slice and serve with fresh berries.
Tip: If using the broiling setting in the oven, keep a close eye on it because it will burn quickly! After broiling, pop the pie into the freezer for 15 minutes to chill because broiling can make the middle of the pie too warm to slice.
✔️ Expert crème brûlée pie tips
- Bake the pie until set: The pie is ready when the edges and center are set. The center should wiggle like jello - not jiggly like liquid. Since oven temperatures and egg yolk sizes can vary, I recommend keeping a close eye on the pie after 30 minutes and checking to see if it’s done using visual cues as opposed to just based on time.
- Chill the pie: This crème brûlée pie needs to be chilled to completely set. This will allow you to cut perfect, smooth slices. You can pop the pie into the freezer to chill faster if you’re in a rush!
- Don’t overwhisk the yolks: Mix the egg yolks and sugar just until they are smooth. Don’t whisk until lightened in color to prevent adding too much air into the crème brûlée which can cause cracking and prevent a perfectly smooth custard.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
This Earl grey creme brulee pie is the perfect make ahead pie since it needs to chill in the fridge to set. Make it the morning of or even the night before. Cover to store in the fridge.
Make sure to torch the top of the pie right before serving. The sugar topping will melt into a goopy mixture as it sits. If you have any leftover slices of pie, pop them in the fridge and enjoy them within the next couple of days. Wipe away any melted sugar drips from the sides of the pie that will form as it sits.
☕ Flavor possibili-teas
The beauty of creme brulee is that you could easily adjust the flavor according to your preferences. Just add your favorite teas or aromatics into the cream as it steeps. Here are some ideas:
Lemon: Omit the earl grey, and add the grated zest from one lemon in with the vanilla and steep.
English tea: Substitute the earl grey with english tea.
Jasmine green tea: Substitute the earl grey with Jasmine green tea.
Chamomile: Substitute the earl grey with chamomile tea. And check out my chamomile infused lemon posset!
Matcha: Add 1 teaspoon of matcha, dissolved in one tablespoon of water, into the cream as it steeps. Add more if needed to get as much matcha flavor and color as you prefer.
📖 Recipe FAQs
You can use either for burning the sugar top. A kitchen torch will take longer, but a broiler will heat up the pie a lot more. If using the broiler setting in your oven, you're going to have to pop the pie in the freezer for 10-20 minutes to re-set the pie filling.
I recommend using granulated sugar for the top of crème brûlée. It melts more evenly than brown sugar or any other sugar I've tried. You can use granulated cane sugar - that works great as well!
If you use a premade crumb crust, you don't need to prebake the crust. For a homemade crumb crust, I would recommend baking it for about 7 minutes just to firm up the crust and prevent crumbs from getting into the pie.
If using a pastry crust, it's essential to prebake the crust or else you'll be left with raw dough at the bottom. Follow the instructions on the package or recipe that you use.
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📖 Recipe
Earl Grey Creme Brulee Pie
Equipment
- pie plate or baking sheet
- wire whisk
Ingredients
- 1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla paste (can be subbed with vanilla extract)
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream 35%
- 2 tablespoons earl grey tea optional
- 5 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 pie crust I used Mi-del chocolate gluten free pie crust
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar for topping
- Fresh berries for decoration and serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C).
- Slice vanilla bean pod in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the knife. Place the seeds and the bean pod into a medium saucepan. Add the cream and earl grey tea leaves (optional).1 vanilla bean, 2 tablespoons earl grey tea, 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- Heat the cream on medium low heat until steaming hot, don’t let it boil! Once steaming hot, take the saucepan off the heat and let the vanilla and tea steep for 10 minutes.
- While the cream steeps, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt until just combined - don’t mix until foamy. Set aside.5 large egg yolks, ½ cup granulated sugar, ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- Remove the tea leaves and vanilla pod from the cream. Squeeze the teabag well to release all of that flavor. If you’re using looseleaf tea, strain the leaves out.
- Slowly, half a cup at a time, add the steeped cream into the yolk mixture, whisking well. Gradually add the rest of the cream and whisk well throughout.
- Place the pie crust on a larger baking pan. Pour the cream and egg mixture into the pie crust. If using a crumb crust (like I did), pour the cream on top of a spatula into the crust to prevent the bottom of the crust from being disturbed.1 pie crust
- Bake the pie for 30-35 minutes just until the center is set and not liquidy. The center will still be slightly jiggly, like jello. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the pie to chill completely, about 3 hours.
- Before serving, cover the top of the pie liberally with 3 tablespoons of sugar. Place it on a baking sheet right under the broiler in the top portion of the oven. Broil the top of the pie until all of the sugar melts and caramelizes. Keep a close eye on it because it will burn quickly! This will take about 1-2 minutes. After broiling, pop the pie into the freezer for 15 minutes to chill because broiling can make the middle of the pie too warm to slice.3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- If you don’t have a broiler, you can use a kitchen torch - it will just take longer. But I found that using a torch doesn’t heat the pie up as much.
- Crack the top of the pie with the back of the spoon to make it easier to slice. Slice and serve with fresh berries.Fresh berries
Notes
- Bake the pie until fully set - the edges and center will be set. The center will be a little jiggly like jello. Oven temperatures can vary, so it's important to pull the pie out based on visual cues.
- Chill the pie before slicing to completely set. This will give you perfect, smooth slices.
- Don't overwhisk the egg yolks for a perfectly smooth pie.
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