Two slightly different versions of Protein Creme Brulee. Both with lactose free milk or cream. One with Pistachio flavour, one coffee. Both stunning to look at and easy to make. And with a healthy hit of protein. Your way to get it all: Indulgence, low calories and Protein in one delicious dessert.
The Inspiration
If you saw the posts for my Strawberry and Banoffee Protein Mousse Pie you might have already guessed that I sometimes have difficulties deciding which of the delicious ideas in my head to create. So, as I did then, I do here: I just make both. Because, hey, why should I have to decide?
This also gave me the opportunity to test which one works better and have 2 different flavours! I mean what is better than one Crème Brûlée with Protein? 2 of course. Did I mention I’m greedy?
I’ve been avoiding Crème Brûlée for a while, as I’m lactose intolerant. Though, oddly enough, I can happily have whey protein powder, but get queasy from the vegan stuff. And since I knew my “secret” method of incorporating protein powder into all kinds of sweet recipes results in a custard like consistency, this one was basically unavoidable, with it being…well…custard. With benefits.
Print recipe wise, I’m giving you one for each of the Protein Crème Brûlées, as I figured not everyone wants to make both at once. Though I found it a lot of fun. 🙂
The Ingredients
Together with an Oatly Whipping Cream, I spotted this Creamy Oat Cream at my favourite health foods store and had to try it out! Finally, the solution for all my lactose free cream quests! And it did not disappoint. It acted exactly like cream would in a custard, resulting in super creamy Brûlée. I still used a bit of Oatly Barista, to mix the protein powder in the Brûlée version with the cream, knowing it would create the consistency I was aiming for, but cut calories a tiny bit.
The version with the cream was made with crushed coffee beans, steeped in the warmed cream for about 30min, while I was preparing everything else.
For the second version, I wanted to see if I could skip the cream by adding protein powder for custardy consistency and adding back a bit of healthy fats in form of Pistachio Butter, which I got from Bulk a while ago and love. Usually if Pistachio flavour is added, it’s in form of Pistachio cream, which contains added sugar. And since I’m trying to reduce my sugar intake, I wanted to control how much goes into this.
Instead of cream I used a mix of Oatly Barista for its heat stability and Alpro Soy Protein Milk for its super creamy texture. If you are looking for alternatives, make sure you don’t use very low-fat ones. You are looking for about 7% fat content here, which is then upped by the Pistachio butter for the creamy texture we want in a Protein Crème Brûlée.
For sweeteners, this is dessert after all, which we want most certainly sweet and indulgent, I use MyProtein – Buttered Popcorn, one of my all-time favourite flavours, as it’s so versatile and mixes into what a friend described as “Like really good quality, just melted vanilla ice cream”. An obvious choice for Crème Brûlée with Protein, which, due to the fact that is has so few ingredients, each being really good quality is essential. There is nothing to hide behind here.
The powder adds part of the sweetness, but not all we need. Plus, I like to mix natural sweeteners with other options, as it gives the best flavour while still keeping things fairly low calorie. For the coffee-flavoured mix, I decided brown sugar would be a perfect addition. For Pistachio, honey seemed like the natural choice.You’ll need about 1 tsp white sugar per portion for topping and the classic irresistible Crème Brûlée crust. I’m afraid that can’t be replaced, as we need it for the caramelisation to be perfect.
Oh and of course egg yolks. The base for any custard worth its name. I had loads left from a Brown Sugar Pavlova experiment I’m still working on.
A bit of vanilla extract for both versions. I used powdered vanilla for very intense, real vanilla flavour in the coffee version, extract in the Pistachio version. You can use extract in either.
And as much as I have written here, this makes for a very short list for each of the two.
The Process
This gets even easier.
Carefully heat the cream (Oatly or just single cream, depending on what you have or are intolerant to) for the coffee version or Oatly Barista for the Pistachio one. Don’t boil. Just gently heat until steaming. Add the crushed coffee beans to the cream. Nothing just yet to the Milk, otherwise you’ll have a scrambled mess. You need the cream and milk at room temperature.
Add either the Oatly Barista for the coffee version or Alpro Soy Protein for the Pistachio, to a Protein shaker together with a scoop of your favourite (ideally vanilla or similar) protein powder.
Shake vigorously until super creamy. Swipe the lid with your finger and try it. Finish with a satisfied “Mmmmmh”.
And for the love of god: If that is not what is happening when you try it, do not go further with this particular protein powder you are using. There are better options that don’t ruin a perfectly good dessert! Use yours up in some smoothie with lots of fruit, to hide the flavour.
Get a decent one, if you want to use it in things like this, the above mentioned Mousse Pie or Tiramisu Protein Oats or Buttermilk Sourdough Waffles with Protein.
Just to note it here again: This is not affiliated or sponsored. Just what I found over a year of testing lots of different ones. Unfortunately, I did not find even one vegan powder that was even remotely enjoyable. So, I’m no help in that regard. But Whey is a different topic.
Preheat your oven to 325F/160C. Put a kettle on for hot water.
Get your Ramekins. I used 2 fairly high ones for this one for each version and had leftovers for another half form. No greasing needed btw. You’ll spoon the creme out anyway. If you use smaller ramekins, it’ll probably make about 4 of the more classic size ramekins. Find an ovenproof dish that will hold all ramekins and water reaching up about half around them. Make sure it can deal with drastic temperature fluctuations, as you will pour boiling water around the ramekins, before adding everything to the oven.
Once the warmed cream had it’s 30 minutes to soak up all the coffee flavour and is at room temperature, strain it through a sieve into the protein shaker. Add the remaining ingredients and shake again until smooth. Not too much though, you don’t want a fluffy mix. Just everything creamy and lovely.
Do the same minus the straining for the Pistachio version.
Now add your ramekins to the ovenproof dish, carefully pour in the custard mix, dividing it equally between all of them. Once that is done, pour your now boiling water carefully around them, so it comes up about halfway on the side of the ramekins. Use oven gloves to carefully transfer to the oven.
The baking time depends on both your oven and ramekin size. For my large ones it was about 25 minutes. But it could even have done with a few minutes shorter. Unfortunately my oven is very uneven in heating, so the front ones were a bit behind in firming up. Turn your dish around in the oven about halfway through the baking time, if your oven, like most, bakes unevenly.
To test if they are done, tap very gently on the crème closer to the rim. The top should feel slightly firm, but everything should still wobble a bit. Once done, take them out and let them cool. Once at room temperature, let them cool further in the fridge.
When they are cool and you are ready to serve, sprinkle with the white sugar. This needs white, as brown will burn too quickly due to the molasses content. A thin layer, shake them a bit, to distribute, tip out any loose sugar into the next as you go. This will guarantee you a thin, even disk of crispy caramel.
Now you need either a kitchen torch or pre-heat the broiler of your oven, to quickly caramelise the sugar. If using the oven, keep a close eye on it, as it can go from perfect to burned very quickly. I like my caramel fairly dark, for the flavour contrast of slightly bitter to sweet and creamy, but take yours to your preferred level.
Once caramelised, leave to cool for a few minutes, so it can form that perfect caramel disk we live for.
And it’s time to dig in. The best moment for any Crème Brûlée: Cracking the caramel layer with a decisive tap of your spoon, revealing the creamy, yet firmed up custard below. Thinking that this was actually a very easy dessert to make, and you will certainly do it again.
If you made both versions: Compare. My experiment had no clear winner. They were both creamy and delicious. If I hadn’t added different flavours, I wouldn’t have been able to tell which was which. But of course, in the Pistachio version the butter added the missing fat content you have from the cream in the coffee version. So, my plan worked better than expected.
Calorie wise, the Pistachio version is slightly lower and has a lot of healthy fats, which might appeal to the health conscious among us. Both come with about 10g protein per portion, which is fantastic for a dessert with just around 200cal.
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please share. It helps me a lot. 🙂
Protein Crème Brûlée Coffee Oat Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup Oatly Creamy Oat Cream https://www.oatly.com/stuff-we-make/cooking/creamy-oat-250ml
- 1/3 cup Oatly Barista https://www.oatly.com/stuff-we-make/oat-drink/oat-drink-barista-edition-1l
- 25 g coffee beans crushed
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 scoop protein powder ideally vanilla or similar
- 1/8 tsp pure vanilla powder substitute with 1 tsp vanilla extract or scraped seeds from ½ vanilla pod
Instructions
- Gently heat the Oatly Creamy Oat Cream in a saucepan until steaming. Do not boil.
- Add the crushed coffee beans to the cream and let it steep for about 30 minutes. Strain the cream through a sieve the protein shaker after the infusion period.
- In your protein shaker, combine the Oatly Barista, protein powder, and egg yolks. Shake well to mix.
- Add the strained coffee-infused cream to the protein mixture. Also, add the brown sugar and vanilla powder (or vanilla extract). Shake the mixture until creamy and well combined.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C).
- Place your ramekins in an ovenproof dish. The dish should be able to hold the ramekins and enough water to come up about halfway around them.
- Carefully pour the custard mixture into the ramekins, dividing it equally.
- Boil water and pour it gently around the ramekins to create a water bath.
- Transfer the dish to the preheated oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Rotate the dish halfway through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
- The custard is done when the top feels slightly firm but still wobbles a bit.
- Remove the ramekins from the oven and let them cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate them until fully chilled.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle a thin, even layer of white sugar over the chilled custards.
- Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar on top. Move the torch in a circular motion to evenly brown the sugar until it forms a crisp caramelized layer.
- Alternatively, preheat your oven's broiler and place the ramekins under the broiler for a short time until the sugar caramelizes. Keep a close eye on it to prevent burning.
- Allow the caramelized sugar to cool and harden for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
Calories: Approximately 220-240
Fat: Approximately 14-16 grams
Protein: Approximately 8-10 grams
Carbohydrates: Approximately 14-16 grams
Fiber: Approximately 0-1 grams
Sugar: Approximately 12-14 grams
Nutrition
Protein Crème Brûlée Plant Milk Pistachio
Ingredients
- 0.55 cup Alpro Soy Protein drink or similar plant-based milk with high fat content
- 0.55 cup Oatly Barista or similar heat-stable, high-fat plant-based milk
- 1 tbsp pistachio butter
- 4 egg yolks
- 1.5 tbsp honey
- 1 scoop vanilla or similar protein powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- White sugar for caramelizing
Instructions
- Gently heat the Oatly Barista over medium heat until it steams but doesn’t boil.
- In a protein shaker, combine the Alpro Soy Protein drink, protein powder, pistachio butter, egg yolks, honey, and vanilla extract. Shake well to mix. Once at room temperature, add the Oatly Barista and shake again.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C).
- Place your ramekins in an ovenproof dish that can hold the ramekins and enough water to come up about halfway around them.
- Carefully pour the pistachio-flavoured custard mixture into the ramekins, dividing it equally.
- Boil water and pour it gently around the ramekins to create a water bath.
- Transfer the dish to the preheated oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Rotate the dish halfway through baking if needed.
- The custard is done when the top is slightly firm but still wobbly.
- Remove the ramekins from the oven and let them cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate them until fully chilled.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle a thin, even layer of white sugar over the chilled custards.
- Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar on top until it forms a crisp caramelized layer.
- Alternatively, you can use the broiler method as described in the Coffee flavoured Creme Brûlée recipe.
- Allow the caramelized sugar to cool and harden for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
These keep well for up to 3 days in the fridge. But don’t top them with sugar until right before serving, as it will melt again over time. Perfect to create a spectacle for your guests by caramelizing the sugar with a kitchen torch. Total Estimated Nutrition per Portion Pistachio flavour: Calories: Approximately 180-200
Fat: Approximately 10-12 grams
Protein: Approximately 9-11 grams
Carbohydrates: Approximately 14-16 grams
Fiber: Approximately 0-1 grams
Sugar: Approximately 11-13 grams
Creme brulée is my favourite dessert. I tried the first version you have here with coffee! Super good. Next time I’ll try the pistachio version!
I love crème brûlée and I love this version of crème brûlée even more. The touch of pistachio butter and oatly barista was just divine.
This was out of this world! Such a creative recipe and great to up my intake of egg yolks too. Sometime just eating eggs for protein really takes it toll!
Genius recipe!
My daughter loves creme brulee but she is also watching her calories. I think she will appreciate me making this healthier version. Will let you know how it goes!