Creme Brulee Martini

By
Colleen Graham
Photo of Colleen Graham
Colleen Graham
Freelance writer and cocktail book author Colleen Graham is a seasoned mixologist who loves sharing her knowledge of spirits and passion for preparing drinks.
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Updated on 04/23/21
Creme Brulee Martini

The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

Prep: 3 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 3 mins
Serving: 1 serving
Yield: 1 cocktail

Quite the alluring cocktail, the crème brûlée martini transforms a favorite dessert into a fantastic beverage. It's a cocktail that can easily replace crème brûlée at the dinner table, offering a decadent vanilla custard taste that is sure to impress anyone.

Originally the brainchild of New York City-based mixologist Benjamin Maury. It uses vanilla vodka as the base, which is perfect against the creamy custard and accented beautifully with a hard caramel garnish.

To pull it off, you will need to make crème anglaise. It's a simple vanilla custard sauce made of egg yolks, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Follow Maury's suggestion and add 1 tablespoon of port wine to that recipe.

Worth the effort, this is one dessert cocktail that you'll want to perfect ahead of time. With a little practice, you'll be ready to mix up a round anytime you want to put a "wow" factor into a dinner party.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces vanilla vodka

  • 3/4 ounce crème anglaise, made with 1 tablespoon port wine

  • 1 dash simple syrup

  • Hard caramel strings, for garnish

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. In a cocktail shaker, pour the vodka, crème anglaise, and simple syrup. Fill with ice.

  3. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

  4. Decorate with hard caramel strings. Serve and enjoy.

The Caramel Garnish

A fun project for the kitchen, making a webbing of hard caramel strings is not very difficult, though there are some tricks to it. You can use a basic caramel recipe and create them in any shape you desire. With practice, you can create a large web that rests on top of the glass rim (have a glass nearby for a reference on the desired diameter). However, the webbing may break into smaller pieces and that's ok. Just take the neatest looking pieces and stand them upright in the glass.

To make the caramel, combine 1 cup white granulated sugar with 1/4 cup of water and stir to dissolve. Bring to a boil and leave it. The mix should start to turn brown just after 8 minutes—swirl the pan to mix the colors—and remove it from the heat as soon as it's amber-colored.

The second step is the fun part but work very quickly! Dunk the saucepan in a bowl of ice water (or a cold water-filled sink) right away to stop the caramel from cooking further. Once the pan stops sizzling, remove it from the water and stir the caramel. Using a spoon, drizzle the caramel in the desired web-like shape onto a baking sheet that's very well coated with cooking spray. Let the caramel harden (about 15 minutes), then remove the candy with a spatula. Clean up your pan by filling it with really hot water; just let it soak and the extra caramel will dissolve.

The caramel webs can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week in an airtight container; separate layers with parchment paper to prevent sticking. You can use the caramel to decorate desserts and other goodies as well.

Recipe Variation

As an alternative garnish, dust the top of the cocktail with powdered sugar and add a few fresh berries, in crème brûlée fashion. A sprinkle of ground nutmeg or cinnamon would be nice as well and either can be blended with the powdered sugar.

How Strong Is a Crème Brulee Martini?

Like most martinis, this cocktail may be utterly delicious but it's not light on the alcohol. That's okay because it's so rich that you'll probably only want one (alright, maybe two). On average, it should mix up to 21 percent ABV (42 proof) or so, which is half the strength of a vodka shot.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
192 Calories
1g Fat
15g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories 192
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1g 2%
Saturated Fat 1g 3%
Cholesterol 15mg 5%
Sodium 75mg 3%
Total Carbohydrate 15g 5%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 12g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg 1%
Calcium 37mg 3%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 51mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)