Lemon Cheesecake Crème Brûlée

Ingredients

• 8 oz / 226 g Cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Heavy cream
• ½ cup Whole milk
• 2, zest and 3 Tbsp juice Lemons
• ½ cup, plus about 1 tsp per ramekin for the tops Granulated sugar
• 4 Large egg yolks
• 1 Large egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 pinch Kosher salt

Method

1. Heat the oven to 325°F / 165°C. Set six 4-ounce ramekins in a roasting pan.
2. Put the cream cheese, cream, milk, and lemon zest in a saucepan over medium. Whisk until the cheese melts and the pot is steaming. Do not let it boil. Take it off the heat and let it sit 10 minutes so the zest can flavor the cream.
3. Whisk the ½ cup sugar, yolks, whole egg, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the warm cream a ladle at a time so the eggs do not scramble. Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a jug. Press on the solids so you do not leave the cheese behind. The zest stays in the sieve.
4. Divide the custard among the ramekins. Pour hot water into the pan until it comes halfway up the sides. Bake 40–50 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers still wobble when you nudge the pan.
5. Lift the ramekins out of the water and cool them to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours, or overnight.
6. Just before serving, blot any moisture off the tops. Sprinkle a thin, even layer of sugar on each one. Caramelize it with a kitchen torch, moving the flame, until the sugar is amber. If you do not have a torch, set the ramekins on a baking sheet under a hot broiler and watch them the whole time. They can go from pale to burnt in well under a minute. Let the sugar harden for a minute before anyone cracks it.

Nutrition

Kitchen estimate only, not lab-verified. A rich dessert. Cream, cream cheese, egg yolks, and the sugar lid are the dish.

Guest diet / allergy swaps

Short kitchen notes for guests. A fuller gluten-free or dairy-free ingredient list, when we have one, is in the panels below.

• Low-sodium friendly

  Skip the pinch of salt. There is no broth or cheese sauce here. The custard is already a low-salt dessert.

• Gluten-free style

  There is no flour or crust. Check the vanilla if you avoid gluten strictly. Do not add a cookie crumb unless that cookie fits the table.

  • United States: There is no flour and no crust. Check the vanilla if you avoid gluten strictly, and do not add a cookie crumb.
  • United Kingdom: The ramekin is custard only. Leave biscuit crumbs off the plate.

• Dairy-free

  Cream cheese, cream, and milk are the custard. There is no clean dairy-free path for this ramekin.

• No egg

  The yolks and the whole egg are what set the custard. Skip this dessert if eggs are off the table.

• No pork

  Nothing in the ramekin is meat.

• No torch

  Use the broiler method in the last step, and stay at the oven. The custard is still good without a sugar lid if the top starts to scorch.