This is a Creme Brûlée Pie. It features a cookie-like almond crust, and it’s filled with the most delicious vanilla bean custard. Topped with Meringue and sugared raspberries.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword creme brulee, pie
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Servings 10people
Calories 280kcal
Ingredients
Crust
1/2cupunsalted buttersoftened (113 grams, 4 oz)
1/2cuppowdered sugar63 grams, 2.25 oz
1/4cupalmond flour24 grams, 0.8 oz
1large egg
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
1 1/2cupsall-purpose flour190 grams, 6.7 oz
1/4teaspoonfine sea salt
Creme Brûlée Filling
2 1/2cupsheavy cream
1vanilla beanseeds scraped* Note
5yolks
1/2cupgranulated sugar100 grams, 7.1 oz
For the top
2tablespoonsgranulated sugar
You will also need a torch
Meringue
1egg white
1/4cupgranulated sugar50 grams, 1.7 oz.
1/8teaspooncream of tartar
1/8teaspoonfine sea salt
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
Make the crust
Start by creaming butter for about 30 seconds at medium high speed.
Add powdered sugar and mix on low. Raise speed and cream for about 30 seconds until incorporated.
Add almond flour and mix until combined.
Add egg and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure to incorporate everything.
Add vanilla and mix.
Add flour and salt and stir until combined, you don’t want to overmix or knead the dough, you just want to bring it together.
Once all the flour has hydrated and dough has come together, simply turn it into a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap, flatten dough into a disc.
Place it in the fridge for about 3 hours.
Make the Filling (part 1)
Start to make the filling right before you want to bake the crust. You should add a hot filling to a hot crust. So this is how it works out perfectly: while the crust bakes, you make the custard.
To make the custard, bring the heavy cream and scraped vanilla bean seeds to a boil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. You don’t actually want to bring it to a boil. As soon as you see foam starting to rise, and before it starts to bubble up, remove from heat.
Set heavy cream aside to infuse with the vanilla beans for about 15 minutes.
Now, you want to remove the crust from the fridge and start to roll it out while your heavy cream infuses with the vanilla.
Bake the crust
Remove from the fridge, roll it out, press it onto the bottom of your pie plate. Trim edges or simply use your fingers to press it down lightly to make the surface of the crust smooth and even.
Place crust in the freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you can start pre-heating your oven to 350F.
Place chilled crust in the oven for about 10 minutes.
You might want to use pie weights on the bottom of the crust, to prevent air bubbles to form and rise up.
I also like to use pie shields or aluminum foil on the edges of the crust, because they will bake way faster than the middle, and will start to burn.
After pie crust is golden on the bottom, remove it from the oven.
Make the filling (part 2)
While your crust is baking, you can re-heat your heavy cream and vanilla bean mixture until it almost comes to a boil. Turn it off the heat.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until well incorporated.
Slowly start to add the hot cream to the yolk/sugar mixture.
Add 1/4 cup and whisk. Then add another 1/4 cup and whisk. That’s called tempering the eggs, you slowly raise their temperature by adding a bit of the hot liquid at a time, If you add all the hot liquid a once, you will end up with curdled eggs.
Finish adding all the cream to the yolks, whisking vigorously.
Bake the pie
Reduce oven temperature to 325F.
Immediately pour the filling on top of crust, using a strainer or a fine mesh sieve to catch any bits of curdled eggs.
Place pie in the oven, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the center seems set, but slightly jiggly, and also slightly caramelized on top.
Remove from the oven. Let pie cool, and then chill it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.
Right before you want to serve it, sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar and use a blow torch to burn the top and create the crackling caramel.
Meringue
Mix all ingredients, except for the vanilla extract together in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water over medium heat.
Whisk mixture while it sits in the double boiler.
Keep whisking over simmering water until it reaches 140F.
That way the egg whites will be in a safe temperature to be consumed.
Move bowl to the mixer.
Whip with the whisk attachment for about 5 minutes on high speed.
Add vanilla and mix to combine.
Notes
*Note: You can add the vanilla bean pod to the pot with the heavy cream to infuse it, after removing the seeds, and then remove the pod before adding the hot cream to the yolks. I usually just stick my vanilla bean pods in my homemade Vanilla Extract container, instead. But if I didn’t make vanilla extract at home, that’s what I would do with the pod.