Try this decadent milk tea crème brûlée infused with fragrant black tea for an elegant dessert! This crème brûlée is perfect with a crackly sugar top and smooth custard filling.

My roommate gifted me a kitchen torch and ramekins for Christmas <3 so I’ve been so excited to try making crème brûlée! A blowtorch is something you technically don’t need but it creates an amazing excuse to make unlimited crème brûlée…

I was pleasantly surprised by how simple crème brûlée is – it takes just five ingredients and a few simple steps. The most difficult part was definitely waiting for it to cool down. And now that I have the basic technique down, there are so many other flavors to explore!!

It is so worth it to start out with this milk tea version and I’m so excited to try other variations like earl grey, coconut, and the forbidden concept: avocado crème brûlée (yes it’s real, google it).

But seriously, I cannot express how incredible this crème brûlée was. Think silky, fragrant, tea-infused custard topped with a delightfully crunchy sugar crust. It’s rich but light and makes you feel like an absolute queen.

I’m in LOVE with this dessert so I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

Milk Tea/Black Tea

Technically, milk tea is any tea drink that has milk added to it. But here, my inspiration was classic bubble tea. Boba milk tea is made up of black tea, milk, ice, and its defining boba or tapioca pearls. I love boba (bubble tea, whatever) milk tea because of how creamy and satisfying it is. It hovers between beverage and dessert and appears in countless different flavors and variations. One of my personal favorites is a homemade strawberry matcha latte boba!

Milk Tea Crème Brûlée Inspiration

This recipe was inspired by the classic boba milk tea which consists of black tea and milk. I guess it’s kind of backward because there was never any boba in the crème brûlée picture, but you get the idea.

And since the main ingredient in crème brûlée is heavy cream, it was easy to incorporate black tea as a tea infusion. It’s so simple but I think that infusing black tea adds a deeper level of flavor that balances with the richness of the custard.

I used loose-leaf black tea but you can definitely use teabags instead!

Easy Substitutions

You can substitute in any other kind of loose-leaf tea. I tried it with earl grey and it was absolutely delicious!

Tools for Crème Brûlée

Ramekins

Most recipes (and this one) calls for four 6-ounce ramekins. I had two 10-oz ramekins I wanted to use so I put the overflow in one 6-ounce ramekin. That one didn’t make it into the picture but it still tasted incredible!

Blowtorch/Broiler

Back to the crème brûlée torch, it’s helpful to create the iconic crème brûlée sugar top. However, you can achieve the same effect using the broiler setting in your oven!

Other things you’ll need are a baking dish for a water bath, a saucepan for steeping the tea, and a hand mixer.

Let’s Make Milk Tea Crème Brûlée

Heat oven to 325°F. Boil a pot of water for a water bath.

Steep Black Tea

In a saucepan, heat cream until just hot and beginning to simmer around the edges. Turn off the heat and add in black tea and cover, steeping for at least 5 minutes. Sieve out the tea leaves – it’s okay if some tea leaves make it into the batter. Add in vanilla extract.

Make Crème Brûlée Batter

Using a handheld mixer, beat yolks and sugar together in a bowl until lighter in color. Whisk about a quarter of the cream into this mixture, then pour sugar-egg mixture into cream and stir. Skim foam off the top of batter with a spoon. Make sure to skim as much as possible off so that it doesn’t form a skin when it bakes!

Bake and Chill

Pour batter into four 6-ounce ramekins and place ramekins in a baking dish. Fill dish with boiling water halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until centers are barely set. Cool completely and refrigerate for several hours and up to a few days.

Serving and Storing

When ready to serve, top each custard with about a teaspoon of sugar in a thin layer. Rotate and lightly shake the ramekin to distribute the sugar evenly. Caramelize the sugar with a propane kitchen torch or broiler and serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 hour before serving.

It’s best to eat this DELICIOUS dessert fresh since the sugar top will get less crisp.

Notes

Whisking

It’s very important not to overmix/overfroth the custard. Some recipes call for a hand mixer but I think it’s easiest to just whisk the egg yolks and sugar together.

I had one batch where I over-frothed and my entire batter was just foam. I let it sit for half an hour and I was able to rescue about half of the batter. Additionally, make sure you skim the foam off of the top after pouring so that it doesn’t create a layer on top!

Using a Broiler

Place ramekins in a broiler 2 – 3 inches from heat source. Turn on broiler and cook until sugar melts and caramelizes, about 5 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t over-caramelize.

Leftover Egg Whites

You’ll have a bunch of leftover egg whites which is always a fun time. Other than cloud eggs, meringues, and omelets, here are a few more ideas:

Swiss meringue buttercream (for frosting cakes/cupcakes), brown butter financiers, angel food cake, Japanese soufflé pancakes, pavlova, coconut macaroons, and so much more!

For more Asian-inspired desserts, check out my Black Sesame Layer Cake and Coconut Black Rice Pudding with Mango recipes!